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 Papua New Guinea and from Taipei.
But I was there.
I was there in 1979.
I was there at the first Second Layer show in South London.
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 1962 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Jakarta and Woodstock.
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 1970 at the first Onyeabor practice in a loft in Enugu.
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 Piero Umiliani to the funk kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 Moby Grape. All the underground hits.
All Lalann tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Fad Gadget record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rock hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a rhodes and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Suburban Knight record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought an organ.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
John Coltrane,
Roy Ayers,
Ash Ra Tempel,
A Certain Ratio,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
The Neon Judgement,
Gerry Rafferty,
Tubeway Army,
Eddi Front,
Marshall Jefferson,
James White and The Blacks,
Yazoo,
Scion,
John Cale,
X-Ray Spex,
Das Ding,
Depeche Mode,
Ten City,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Q65,
Saccharine Trust,
Theoretical Girls,
Tears for Fears,
The Trojans,
The Red Krayola,
Pantaleimon,
Ponytail,
Public Enemy,
Henry Cow,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Lalann,
Ice-T,
Frankie Knuckles,
Prince Buster,
Adolescents,
Bang On A Can,
Ultimate Spinach,
Janne Schatter,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
OOIOO,
Mad Mike,
Cheater Slicks,
Kaleidoscope,
Johnny Osbourne,
The Real Kids,
Pylon,
Heaven 17,
Camron Feat. Memphis Bleek And Beenie Seigel,
In Retrospect,
Donny Hathaway,
Lyres,
Toni Rubio,
Barbara Tucker,
Outsiders,
Grandmaster Flash,
Parry Music,
New Order,
James Chance & The Contortions,
DNA,
Deepchord,
Hasil Adkins,
Unwound,
MC5,
Robert Görl, Robert Görl, Robert Görl, Robert Görl.
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.