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 Liberia and from Manchester.
But I was there.
I was there in 1983.
I was there at the first Bronski Beat show in Brixton.
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 1967 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Jakarta and Mexico City.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Houston 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 1970 at the first Onyeabor practice in a loft in Enugu.
I was working on the oboe sounds with much patience.
I was there when Michael McDonald 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 Andrew Hill to the techno kids.
I played it at the Roxy.
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 Livin' Joy. All the underground hits.
All Michelle Simonal tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Major Organ And The Adding Machine 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 Ultimate Spinach record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
John Foxx,
Agitation Free,
Soft Machine,
Avey Tare,
Black Sheep,
Fela Kuti,
Cecil Taylor,
Clear Light,
Minnie Riperton,
Q65,
Brick,
Lakeside,
Schoolly D,
Little Man,
The Buckinghams,
Lebanon Hanover,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Tears for Fears,
ABC,
The Zeros,
Alphaville,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Technova,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
DJ Style,
Eric Copeland,
Motorama,
Wire,
Marc Almond,
Girls At Our Best!,
Jacob Miller,
R.M.O.,
Marmalade,
The Evens,
8 Eyed Spy,
Dorothy Ashby,
Monolake,
June Days,
Mary Jane Girls,
Scratch Acid,
Iggy Pop,
Faust,
Depeche Mode,
10cc,
John Holt,
Todd Terry,
Unwound,
Subhumans,
The Techniques,
Johnny Clarke,
Dead Boys,
Junior Murvin,
David Bowie,
Moss Icon,
L. Decosne,
Pet Shop Boys,
Mission of Burma,
Tres Demented,
Brand Nubian, Brand Nubian, Brand Nubian, Brand Nubian.
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.