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 Togo and from Manchester.
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 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Bologna and Mexico City.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Delhi 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 1979 at the first Josef K practice in a loft in Edinburgh.
I was working on the marimba sounds with much patience.
I was there when Nile Rodgers 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 Eric Copeland to the grunge kids.
I played it at the Astoria.
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 Stiv Bators. All the underground hits.
All Rhythim Is Rhythim tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Motions record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rap 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 theremin and a clarinet and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Bobby Sherman record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought an oboe.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a guitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Bobby Hutcherson,
Oneida,
Altered Images,
Cal Tjader,
Quadrant,
Rakim,
Monolake,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
Dawn Penn,
Jerry Gold Smith,
The Selecter,
Joy Division,
Reagan Youth,
Grandmaster Flash,
Joe Finger,
Anakelly,
The Fugs,
Von Mondo,
Sugar Minott,
Gabor Szabo,
Can,
Khruangbin,
The Mighty Diamonds,
The Cowsills,
Gang of Four,
Pagans,
Pere Ubu,
Hardrive,
Ludus,
Funky Four + One,
Magma,
Pharoah Sanders,
PIL,
KRS-One,
Arab on Radar,
John Foxx,
Judy Mowatt,
Echospace,
Curtis Mayfield,
Fear,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Jeff Mills,
Soul II Soul,
Q65,
New Age Steppers,
Howard Jones,
Technova,
Hasil Adkins,
Unrelated Segments,
Pussy Galore,
Shoche,
Circle Jerks,
Moebius,
Livin' Joy,
Monks,
The Count Five,
Be Bop Deluxe,
The Tremeloes,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
Prince Buster, Prince Buster, Prince Buster, Prince Buster.
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.