Record Stores in France and Italy (plus Beatles-themed stuff)?

Discussion in 'Music, Movie and Hardware Store Guide' started by 5th-beatle, May 31, 2018.

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  1. 5th-beatle

    5th-beatle Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Brazil
    Can someone please recommend record stores in Paris, Venezia (Venice), Firenze (Florence) and Rome?

    I'm mainly looking for record stores that sell used vinyl, especially Italian and French editions of Beatles albums and singles.

    I would also like to know about anything Beatles-themed (coffee shops, bars, clubs, monuments, statues, tribute bands, etc.) in those cities.

    Thanks in advance.
     
  2. bobc

    bobc Bluesman

    Location:
    France
    I live in France, but in the middle of nowhere, and I would love to know of such record stores.

    I love French "singles" from the 60s of Beatles, Stones, Yardbirds, Them, Animals etc. Really they are EPs with nice photo sleeves etc. I pick them up at local garage sales (vide-greniers) and collectors fairs, but I've never got round to searching for record shops.
     
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  3. Picca

    Picca Forum Resident

    Location:
    Modena, Italy
    Hi: here a beautiful vinyl shop in Florence. It's behind the Giotto bell tower, in the historical centre. Rock bottom records | home
     
  4. Picca

    Picca Forum Resident

    Location:
    Modena, Italy
  5. AlmostHeavenWV

    AlmostHeavenWV The poster formerly known as AlmostHeavenWV

    Location:
    Lancaster UK
    5th-beatle likes this.
  6. Zongadude

    Zongadude Music is the best

    Location:
    France
    Hey, thanks for your invitation.
    Just like bobc, I don't live in Paris, but I go there from time to time.
    Unfortunately the few record shops I went to were awfully expensive.
    "Monster Melodies", for example, has a great stock of records, but you won't get out of the shop with more than 1 or 2 item only, because it's so ridiculously expensive.

    The record fair (Cidisc) should be more welcoming.
     
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  7. Escalon

    Escalon Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Germany
    Crocodisc in Paris (in the 5th arrondissement, on Rue des Ecoles) has fair to very good prices and a nice Beatles section, with European pressings. I got a copy of the great German stereo MMT and an early 70s Japanese Abby Road (w. obi) there a few years ago.

    Zic et Bul is a shop that specializes in rare/expensive pressings (e.g. every Vertigo swirl, rare Beatles, Stones, Kinks, Hendrix etc). It's expensive but great just to SEE the stuff he has.
     
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  8. Mrtn77

    Mrtn77 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Paris
    My experience with Crocodisc is, oddly, completely different. I've only ever seen very high prices for what was on offer. For instance, a VERY beat up (or, unplayable) 80s German pressing of Joni Mitchell's The Hissing of Summer Lawns for 12 Euros. A used Back to Black copy of Crosby's If Only I Could Remember My Name for 30 euros (!), you get the drift.
    The thing is, other than Gibert Joseph (whose used stocks move too fast to be a reliable stop), vinyl is severely overpriced in Paris.
    If you have money to spend, Analog Collector in the 4th is likely the best port of call, though the folks there are repulsively snobbish.
     
  9. Escalon

    Escalon Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Germany
    I agree to an extent about Crocodisc - condition can certainly be very hit or miss. But I think the quality control is better with the Beatles, or at least it was. Some prices there are definitely below discogs (not that that is anything to write home about!). And coming from the UK everywhere else seems cheap!

    The really sad thing - from the perspective of wanting older/rarer pressings- is that like every other shop these days a third of their stock of prog/psych/classic rock seems to be reissues now, which wasn't the case four or five years ago.

    More generally it's very odd that Paris doesn't have one all-around, indisputably great record shop (for rock and related)
     
  10. Mrtn77

    Mrtn77 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Paris
    While it doesn't especially shine as far as second-guessing hand vinyl goes, I have to say Gibert Joseph is, indeed, a great record store. They really put a lot of effort in finding what room they can for everything. They also hold events and in-store concerts throughout the year. They had Graham Nash last year, for instance, and the Paul McCartney biographer whose name I forget, among many others whom I'd never heard of.
     
  11. Escalon

    Escalon Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Germany
    Oh absolutely. In fact I'd be surprised if there is a better new vinyl/cd shop in Europe than Gilbert and Joseph, although I haven't travelled that widely in many parts. It's quite amazing how many genres and subgenres they cover, also an incredible section of music/vinyl magazines (including back issues etc). In terms of dvd/bluray it's also hard to beat. I've spent many hours and a lot of money in that shop. I'm not surprised that they hold in-store events although I've never seen one.
    But for second-hand vinyl I've never found anything for my tastes and as you say it is certainly not their speciality - I would say it's less than 5% of their total music stock
     
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  12. Mrtn77

    Mrtn77 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Paris
    The problem with second-hand stock at Gibert Joseph is that it moves very, very fast. Anything remotely appealing sells on the day it's put out, if not within the hour.
    They get a lot of dross (they take in everything), but they do get nice stuff if you can get to it.
    My main problem with the store is that the two guys who run the jazz section go through the second-hand stuff before it reaches the shop floor, take anything good for themselves and leave the rest in disarray, knowing they'll be paid regardless.
     
  13. Escalon

    Escalon Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Germany
    Then I guess I just haven't been there at the right time...I imagine it's the same with Boulinier (up or down the street), which people talk about as being good for vinyl, but the few times I've been there it seemed almost all dross. I'm sure they're both like the Oxfam music charity shops in the UK in this respect - you need to go (at least) once a week in order to get lucky a few times a year (the rare day when they get a good collection in, etc). But I'm only in Paris one or two months a year. I'm not surprised to hear about some of the staff at GJ picking out the good stuff, especially when it comes to jazz.

    Have you ever been to the Saint-Ouen flea market for vinyl? I'm curious as I've never been and am wondering if it's worth the trip.
     
  14. Mrtn77

    Mrtn77 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Paris
    Since Boulinier and Gibert Joseph are only a few dozen meters away from one another, I imagine both are picked clean by the same die-hard vinyl seekers. Though, like you, I've only ever seen the very bottom of the barrel when browsing there.
    I've never been to the Saint-Ouen flea market, but have been told they've gotten very expensive. That's certainly seemed to be the case at every smaller flea market I've happened to pass through.
     
  15. sparcki

    sparcki Well-Known Member

    Hi 5th Beatle, I went to Rome and Florence last year, I went to Pink Moon records in Rome, lots of used vinyl upstairs. Florence has several record shops, I went to Rock Bottom records where they had some great vinyl, Move on beer and vinyl store next to the Dummo had a good selection upstairs, Libri & Vinili in the flea market had plenty of used vinyl. enjoy.
     
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  16. mfp

    mfp Senior Member

    Location:
    Paris, France
    My favorite store in Paris is Plus De Bruit, rue de la Rochefoucauld, near Pigalle.
    Enjoy your Eurotrip!
     
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