Infinitely Losing My Edge
Yeah, I'm losing my edge.
I'm losing my edge.
The kids are coming up from behind.
I'm losing my edge.
I'm losing my edge to the kids from Nigeria and from New York.
But I was there.
I was there in 1975.
I was there at the first Throbbing Gristle show in London.
I'm losing my edge.
I'm losing my edge to the kids whose footsteps I hear when they get on the decks.
I'm losing my edge to the internet seekers who can tell me every member of every good group from 1966 to 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Spokane and Houston.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Spokane kids in little jackets and borrowed nostalgia for the unremembered nineties.
I'm losing my edge.
I'm losing my edge.
I can hear the footsteps every night on the decks.
But I was there.
I was there in 1979 at the first Second Layer practice in a loft in South London.
I was working on the 808 sounds with much patience.
I was there when Nile Rodgers started up his first band.
I told him, "Don't do it that way. You'll never make a dime."
I was there.
I was the first guy playing Sixth Finger to the electroclash kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
Everybody thought I was crazy.
We all know.
I was there.
I was there.
I've never been wrong.
But I'm losing my edge to better-looking people with better ideas and more talent.
And they're actually really, really nice.
I'm losing my edge.
I heard you have a compilation of every good song ever done by anybody.
Every great song by Robert Görl. All the underground hits.
All The Sisters of Mercy tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Kerri Chandler record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a harpsichord and a 808 and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Sparks record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a guitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a spring reverb.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Alarm Clocks,
Hasil Adkins,
Traffic Nightmare,
Suburban Knight,
Bill Wells,
The Smiths,
Newcleus,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
Flipper,
Cybotron,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
Fugazi,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Howard Jones,
Boogie Down Productions,
Chrome,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Shuggie Otis,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
Rosa Yemen,
Janne Schatter,
Can,
Isaac Hayes,
Jandek,
Jerry's Kids,
ABC,
Fat Boys,
Sex Pistols,
Minny Pops,
Derrick Morgan,
The Music Machine,
Pet Shop Boys,
Man Eating Sloth,
In Retrospect,
Camberwell Now,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Mark Hollis,
Duran Duran,
Jawbox,
Tears for Fears,
The Modern Lovers,
Reuben Wilson,
Marcia Griffiths,
Soft Cell,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Bluetip,
Judy Mowatt,
DJ Style,
Danielle Patucci,
Nils Olav,
Eli Mardock,
Robert Hood,
Pierre Henry,
CMW,
Funky Four + One,
Byron Stingily,
Black Moon,
The Leaves,
Chris & Cosey,
Parry Music,
James White and The Blacks,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Monks, Monks, Monks, Monks.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.