I stumbled onto Paris’ Culture Factory / Elvis My Happiness wrecka stow while killing time before my wife and I left for the Levitation Music Festival in Angers, France. It’s at 27 Rue de L’Armorique and a must-see place if you’re a fan of Elvis Presley. The place is full of Elvis records, discs, and DVDs (and probably more stuff I didn’t notice). They have more than Elvis records, of course. This was the first rack I saw when I walked into the place.
That’s a bunch of limited edition CDs that feature sleeves and artwork that reproduce the album artwork. I snagged a copy of Iggy Pop‘s New Values from this rack.
Back to the Elvis stuff, however. Like I wrote above, it’s all over the place. Apart from what you see above that CD rack, this below is just a small sampling.
They had seemingly every televised or recorded live performance Presley ever released (and some might’ve been bootlegs). The owners are obviously massive fans and if they didn’t have the Elvis record you wanted, it probably doesn’t exist.
They have over vinyl there, of course. Here’s a small sample of their wares.
I had a fun conversation with the clerk who rang up my Iggy Pop CD. He asked, in French, if I wanted it gift wrapped. He finally understood that I didn’t speak French well. He asked if I were English (a common occurrence on the trip) and I told him, in French, that I was American and my French wasn’t good.
“That explains why you looked at me like I was the devil when I spoke French,” he said. He looked at the CD and said, “Iggy Pop…He is the devil.” and then told me about how he used to work at a Virgin Records mega-store in London a few years ago. Pop was doing a signing there and he was seated next to him when a woman came up to Pop and asked him if his (unknown to her) newest record was his first. The look on Pop’s face of disbelief was priceless and he simply said, “No, it’s not my first record.” He signed the album and then said, “That stupid bitch.” to the clerk as she walked away.
Keep your mind open.
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