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 Vanuatu and from Beijing.
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 1963 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Portland and Accra.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Hong Kong 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 1968 at the first Can practice in a loft in Cologne.
I was working on the güiro sounds with much patience.
I was there when Holger Czukay 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 In Retrospect 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 Banda Bassotti. All the underground hits.
All Aaron Thompson tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson 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 linndrum and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Byron Stingily record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a linndrum.
I hear that you and your band have sold your linndrum and bought a synthesizer.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Jerry Gold Smith,
The Saints,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Tom Boy,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Grey Daturas,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
B.T. Express,
Sound Behaviour,
The Blackbyrds,
Fat Boys,
EPMD,
Saccharine Trust,
Minnie Riperton,
Deadbeat,
the Germs,
Con Funk Shun,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
Joyce Sims,
Porter Ricks,
Colin Newman,
The American Breed,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
MDC,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Bill Wells,
Vladislav Delay,
Second Layer,
Franke,
Inner City,
Peter and Kerry,
Kerrie Biddell,
Lungfish,
Flipper,
Eden Ahbez,
Cybotron,
Mantronix,
The Electric Prunes,
Michelle Simonal,
Freddie Wadling,
A Flock of Seagulls,
T. Rex,
Marmalade,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Guru Guru,
Babytalk,
Eric Dolphy,
Bronski Beat,
Desert Stars,
The Black Dice,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
The Flesh Eaters,
Fear,
Ken Boothe,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Talk Talk,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
K-Klass,
Sparks,
Mo-Dettes,
Roxy Music,
The United States of America,
A Certain Ratio,
Angry Samoans,
Bush Tetras, Bush Tetras, Bush Tetras, Bush Tetras.
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.