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 Nauru and from Lille.
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 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Winnipeg and Sao Paulo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school London 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 1976 at the first Soft Boys practice in a loft in Cambridge.
I was working on the theremin 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 The Smoke to the rock kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 The Grass Roots. All the underground hits.
All Franke tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Althea and Donna record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal crunk 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 linndrum and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Kango’s Stein Massive record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a sitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a harpsichord.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Jacob Miller,
Pussy Galore,
Jeff Mills,
Q65,
The Tremeloes,
The Sonics,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
The Standells,
Eric Dolphy,
Johnny Clarke,
Scientists,
Rotary Connection,
Sight & Sound,
Notorious BIG live in Amsterdam,
Roger Hodgson,
Kas Product,
Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade,
Quantec,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Peter & Gordon,
Procol Harum,
Eddi Front,
Dawn Penn,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
Mad Mike,
Kool Moe Dee,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
Zero Boys,
Bill Wells,
DNA,
Delta 5,
Lyres,
Swans,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Youth Brigade,
The Mojo Men,
Sex Pistols,
Ultra Naté,
Alice Coltrane,
Monks,
Guru Guru,
Ponytail,
The Dave Clark Five,
Vladislav Delay,
Animal Collective,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
The J.B.'s,
Curtis Mayfield,
Easy Going,
Gang Green,
Eurythmics,
Donny Hathaway,
Magma,
Ash Ra Tempel,
The Dirtbombs,
Joy Division,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Amon Düül,
Severed Heads,
The Birthday Party,
Nik Kershaw,
The Real Kids, The Real Kids, The Real Kids, The Real Kids.
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.