Record Store Tips : Florence Italy

I was just in Genoa for a week and there was a store near my hotel ,2 minutes by walking, btu I have found most Euro stores to be so awful there is no reason to go. Like others have said, Italian pressings of what you want arent likely to be great, there is much to do besides, and the records you do find will probably be too expensive for what they are. I travelled to 8 countries In Europe in the last 17 days and not one record store crossed my mind, and I dont feel any worse for it at all. Europe, in GENERAL< is just not worth it time-wise, and if you have read a lot of my posts, you know I do lots of cross country shopping sprees. I constantly travel

 

Well: I respect every point of view, but this generalization is totally false; you first need to distinguish between Italian pressings of non Italian artists, and Italian pressings of Italian artists: I can guarantee that the first Italian pressings of Italian artists, that is as to say editions mastered in Italy directly from the original master-tapes, have an excellent quality at least until the the second half of the '70s.
I agree with regard to the fact that Italian pressings of non Italian artists (i.e. editions mastered from copies of the original master-tape) almost always sound dull and muffled.

As far as prices are concerned, the first Italian editions of Italian artists are among the most expensive in the world because they are ultra-rare editions and also because apparently the Italian music in the world is very loved (maybe you do not like it and I respect your taste....): Italian prog-rock, Italian soundtracks, Italian jazz have records very expensive in their first Italian pressings, but in this case it is not the fault of Italian seller, but it is the fault of the market (just take a look at the auctions on ebay): on ebay, the price is set by buyers and not by sellers; the guilt that may have Italian sellers, is to not be able to distinguish the first Italian editions from subsequent re-pressings, but in this case in the majority of cases it is guilty of ignorance and superficiality and not of bad faith.

However, if you do not like Italian records, I respect your opinion, but I believe that we should not generalize: around the world there are many collectors who are willing to spend many thousands of euro for a first Italian pressing, and I do not think they are all out of head.

Ok, but...do you have listened to many and many Italian first pressings, too?

 

of course I was speaking in general terms, but 99% of the people here are looking for the same US/UK artists, and in Italy its a fool's errand. OF COURSE if you were looking for Italian artists, looking in Italy makes sense but I didnt think I actually needed to point out the obvious

 

8 countries ? So I guess the 8 did not include Germany, Holland or the UK where there lots of record shops with prices far lower than
Italy that stock plenty of US/UK artists ? Is the US generally significantly cheaper ?
Jim

 

I do not think it is so obvious that most first Italian pressings of the '60s (for example those of the RCA Italiana) outclass the sound of almost all the recent editions so-called "audiophile"; I do not think that it is so obvious that records of the Italian Verve in the 60s had an excellent quality; there is nothing so obvious: at first we have to listen to, then we can judge.

 

Stefano:

I have an interest in the great Italian jazz labels e.g. Black Saint, Soul Note and perhaps Red. Where might I find reasonably priced vinyl of such labels in Rome or Florence? I've had poor luck in the past and have pretty much given up (I've been to the Porta Portese fleamarket several years back but the pickings were so poor and my wife had to endure the Roma ladies fiddling with her handbag.... I no longer bother).

 

Well: now I want to be sincere; I am a collector too, I have contacts with some of the most important Italian collectors and we all have the same problem: is it still possible in Italy to find records at decent prices?

In short, the story is this: until the end of the '80s, records in Italy costing very little and at the fairs you could find the big headlines of the Italian prog-rock at ridiculous prices; Then began the ruthless hunt for Italian records, especially by foreign collectors, mostly Japanese: as a result, Italian records (prog-rock, jazz, soundtracks especially) within a few years they have become very very hard to find: all collectors wanted Italian music! to aggravate the situation, we must consider the fact that Italy is a small country, and there were pressed only few copies.....
Then, to further complicate the situation, arrived web-sites like popsike.com: if before it was possible to find great records at reasonable prices because maybe the seller did not know what he was selling, now any seller, even the most naive, before selling a record takes a look at popsike.
In the 90s, at Porta Portese there were original records for example by Panna Fredda, Rovescio della Medaglia, Raminghi, Alphataurus (collectors know very well what I'm talking about ....) to the amount of the current 30.00 EURO! almost always sellers at Porta Portese were people who sold the goods in their attic and they had not the slightest idea what they were selling about....

Now things have changed: the only way to find great records at reasonable prices in Italy are still even now the flea markets: of course, it's necessary to have patience and luck, but I can guarantee that you can still find great bargains; in Italy, especially in the summer, in almost all the small towns and big cities there is the tradition of the flea markets.
Some collectors friends of mine who live in big cities like Roma or Milano, give desperate hunt to music journalists: that is as to say people who in the 50s and 60s wrote music reviews and then they had at their disposal many original records (often promotional copies!): if you manage to find a musical journalist, you have found the treasure island: impossible records, often white-label copies and almost always in mint condition!

This is the current situation here in Italy, I think I was very clear.

 

Grazie Stefano. I suppose what you describe also applies to the rest of the world -- everyone now 'knows' the price of any and everything! But what one sees on Popsike or Ebay only partially reflects international supply and demand; the local situation (country, city or fleamarket location) can be quite different.

I see interesting stuff come up in stores in Paris, for example, albeit at higher prices than say the US or Japan. On a recent trip I was able to pick up a mint Karl Berger record on italian label Soul Note for 12 euros and an original John McLaughlin Devotion on Douglas for 20Euros. However, my experience in Italy has generally been very poor both in terms of prices and availability...

 

I can assure you that last year, some friends of mine that I know personally and who are regulars at flea markets, found (in various flea market in my area), "I Tabù" by Francesco Lavagnino (an impossible-rare soundtrack) for 10.00 EUR; the first album (first press) by Banco del Mutuo Soccorso for 25.00 EURO; the album "Saint Just" for 20.00 EURO; "A Quick One" by the Who, with the ultra-rare Italian yellow cover, for 15.00 EURO (in VG condition).
And every year in the markets you can find such bargains.
Sure, it takes luck, but you also need to arrive on the scene very soon, before other collectors have had the opportunity to browse the records.