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 Tanzania and from Madrid.
But I was there.
I was there in 1970.
I was there at the first Onyeabor show in Enugu.
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 1961 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Taipei and Mumbai.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Mumbai 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 1977 at the first Mistral practice in a loft in Amsterdam.
I was working on the theremin 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 Pharoah Sanders to the rock kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
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 Althea and Donna. All the underground hits.
All Joyce Sims tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Kevin Saunderson record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal funk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a chamberlin and a harpsichord and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Liaisons Dangereuses record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a sitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Girls At Our Best!,
The Divine Comedy,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
Peter and Kerry,
Alton Ellis,
Bill Near,
One Last Wish,
Fatback Band,
Absolute Body Control,
Half Japanese,
Das Ding,
Fugazi,
Nico,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Gang of Four,
Tears for Fears,
Gregory Isaacs,
Bobby Womack,
Dark Day,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Echospace,
John Holt,
Ten City,
Anakelly,
Whodini,
Gabor Szabo,
The Stooges,
Kool Moe Dee,
Lakeside,
Cheater Slicks,
Dead Boys,
This Heat,
Sam Rivers,
Bobby Byrd,
The Grass Roots,
Interpol,
Derrick May,
La Düsseldorf,
The Gladiators,
The Durutti Column,
Maleditus Sound,
The Dave Clark Five,
Josef K,
Mars,
Aaron Thompson,
The Fuzztones,
AZ,
Simply Red,
Ronan,
Kas Product,
Radiopuhelimet,
The Mojo Men,
KRS-One,
Kerri Chandler,
Lee Hazlewood,
Angry Samoans,
Reuben Wilson,
Scan 7,
Niagra,
Skarface,
The American Breed,
Zero Boys,
The Trojans,
The Saints,
Avey Tare, Avey Tare, Avey Tare, Avey Tare.
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.