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 Jamaica and from Philadelphia.
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 1962 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in London and Lyon.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Accra 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 1976 at the first Wire practice in a loft in Watford.
I was working on the 808 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 Jimmy McGriff to the crunk kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 Scan 7. All the underground hits.
All Ronnie Foster tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Max Romeo 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a synthesizer and a guitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Marmalade record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a güiro.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Nas,
Bad Manners,
Minor Threat,
Q and Not U,
Fad Gadget,
Radio Birdman,
Nation of Ulysses,
Bang On A Can,
The Kinks,
Youth Brigade,
Brand Nubian,
MDC,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Rites of Spring,
The Moleskins,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Ralphi Rosario,
The Five Americans,
Theoretical Girls,
Bootsy Collins,
Visionaries,LMNO, T- Love & Iriscience,
AZ,
Goldenarms,
Black Bananas,
Newcleus,
Eric Copeland,
Andrew Hill,
Donny Hathaway,
Tom Boy,
Television,
Maurizio,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Carl Craig,
Arcadia,
The Real Kids,
The Sonics,
Sun Ra,
Terrestrial Tones,
Bobby Sherman,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
DJ Sneak,
the Fania All-Stars,
Idris Muhammad,
The Gap Band,
Judy Mowatt,
The Raincoats,
Marc Almond,
Mary Jane Girls,
Joyce Sims,
Electric Light Orchestra,
The Music Machine,
La Düsseldorf,
Godley & Creme,
Minnie Riperton,
Moby Grape,
The Vogues,
Prince Buster,
Pantaleimon,
Jesper Dahlbäck,
Zero Boys,
The Star Department,
The Victims, The Victims, The Victims, The Victims.
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.