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 Saudi Arabia and from Shanghai.
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 1965 to 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Manila and Hong Kong.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Milan 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 1983 at the first Lewis practice in a loft in Vancouver.
I was working on the organ sounds with much patience.
I was there when Robert Palmer 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 Terry Callier to the rock kids.
I played it at the Crocodile.
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 Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. All the underground hits.
All Barclay James Harvest tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Nils Olav record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a snare and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Make Up record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a rhodes.
I hear that you and your band have sold your rhodes and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Arab on Radar,
The Evens,
Freddie Wadling,
Brick,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Von Mondo,
Cal Tjader,
Patti Smith,
Gabor Szabo,
Essential Logic,
Dawn Penn,
cv313,
Andrew Hill,
Monolake,
Spoonie Gee,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
Magazine,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
The Five Americans,
Ronnie Foster,
Loose Ends,
Quando Quango,
Tubeway Army,
Lightning Bolt,
Anthony Braxton,
Nik Kershaw,
David Bowie,
Sly & The Family Stone,
MC5,
Camouflage,
John Foxx,
Skriet,
The Invisible,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
The Birthday Party,
Nils Olav,
Altered Images,
The Last Poets,
Avey Tare,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Mr. Review,
R.M.O.,
DJ Style,
Pagans,
a-ha,
Silicon Teens,
Traffic Nightmare,
Fad Gadget,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
Moebius,
Excepter,
Joyce Sims,
EPMD,
Tom Boy,
Joy Division,
MDC,
Public Image Ltd.,
Ultravox,
Sun City Girls,
Accadde A,
Girls At Our Best!,
Davy DMX, Davy DMX, Davy DMX, Davy DMX.
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.