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 Lagos.
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 1960 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Cairo and Glasgow.
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 1983 at the first Bronski Beat practice in a loft in Brixton.
I was working on the snare 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 Camron Feat. Memphis Bleek And Beenie Seigel to the dance 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 the Normal. All the underground hits.
All Scott Walker + Sunn O))) tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Soul II Soul record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal disco 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 rhodes and a snare and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Q and Not U record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Anthony Braxton,
Rhythm & Sound,
the Slits,
Zapp,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
The Grass Roots,
Hasil Adkins,
Leonard Cohen,
Todd Rundgren,
Ossler,
Alphaville,
Crispy Ambulance,
Black Pus,
Ken Boothe,
Bootsy Collins,
Lower 48,
Lindisfarne,
Television Personalities,
The Standells,
Mantronix,
Buzzcocks,
Organ,
Thee Headcoats,
Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade,
Joensuu 1685,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Infiniti,
T. Rex,
Erasure,
Joey Negro,
Gang Green,
The Mojo Men,
CMW,
Bizarre Inc.,
Godley & Creme,
Oneida,
Altered Images,
the Swans,
The Young Rascals,
Bluetip,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Nirvana,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
The Happenings,
Gichy Dan,
Reagan Youth,
Derrick May,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Babytalk,
Chrome,
The Stooges,
Deakin,
Siglo XX,
Connie Case,
The Searchers,
Moss Icon,
The Invisible,
Khruangbin,
Public Image Ltd.,
The Velvet Underground,
Eve St. Jones, Eve St. Jones, Eve St. Jones, Eve St. Jones.
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.