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 Comoros and from Tehran.
But I was there.
I was there in 1965.
I was there at the first Beefheart show in Lancaster.
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 1961 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Manila and Jakarta.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Salvador 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 Second Layer practice in a loft in South London.
I was working on the theremin sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 David Axelrod to the grime kids.
I played it at the Crocodile.
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 Gun Club. All the underground hits.
All Pierre Henry tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Marshall Jefferson record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal electroclash hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a mellotron and a 808 and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Roger Hodgson record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a spring reverb.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Terry Callier,
Oneida,
Albert Ayler,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Cheater Slicks,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Joyce Sims,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
Pantaleimon,
Half Japanese,
Monks,
T.S.O.L.,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
Thee Headcoats,
Kerri Chandler,
Jeff Lynne,
Bob Dylan,
The Evens,
LL Cool J,
Groovy Waters,
The Stooges,
Black Pus,
Rufus Thomas,
Tubeway Army,
Mandrill,
Godley & Creme,
Donald Byrd,
Pierre Henry,
Brand Nubian,
John Cale,
Y Pants,
The Knickerbockers,
Althea and Donna,
The Gap Band,
Magazine,
The Doobie Brothers,
Isaac Hayes,
Country Teasers,
Soul II Soul,
Laurel Aitken,
Roxette,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
The Buckinghams,
Tommy Roe,
The Remains,
Robert Hood,
The J.B.'s,
Parry Music,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Blake Baxter,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
The Modern Lovers,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Little Man,
Byron Stingily,
Archie Shepp,
Fat Boys,
The Beau Brummels,
Tres Demented,
Radiopuhelimet,
Stereo Dub,
X-101,
U.S. Maple, U.S. Maple, U.S. Maple, U.S. Maple.
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.