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 Burkina and from Accra.
But I was there.
I was there in 1971.
I was there at the first Selda show in Istanbul.
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 1960 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Halifax and New York.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manila 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 arpeggiator 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 John Lydon to the rap kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
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 Dorothy Ashby. All the underground hits.
All Roxy Music tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Slave record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal techno hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a 808 and a spring reverb and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Minor Threat record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Moby Grape,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Bush Tetras,
Thee Headcoats,
Barbara Tucker,
Malaria!,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Soft Machine,
Television Personalities,
The Litter,
Pharoah Sanders,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
MDC,
Hoover,
Isaac Hayes,
The Residents,
Dorothy Ashby,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Bizarre Inc.,
June of 44,
The Moleskins,
Danielle Patucci,
Radiohead,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Aaron Thompson,
Max Romeo,
Theoretical Girls,
Hashim,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
The Slackers,
Intrusion,
The Techniques,
Marine Girls,
The Neon Judgement,
Kool Moe Dee,
Motorama,
Drexciya,
Howard Jones,
Nas,
Ultravox,
Public Image Ltd.,
Cybotron,
Camouflage,
Quadrant,
The Beau Brummels,
The Fortunes,
The Modern Lovers,
Buzzcocks,
The Raincoats,
Funkadelic,
Graham Central Station,
Gregory Isaacs,
Crash Course in Science,
Schoolly D,
The Human League,
Fat Boys,
T.S.O.L.,
Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade,
Bang On A Can,
Kurtis Blow,
Gichy Dan,
Eddi Front,
Ohio Players, Ohio Players, Ohio Players, Ohio Players.
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.