We often get asked about our name, Sweet Lollapalooza. Where did it come from? Why did you settle on that name for your shop? Well, as it turns out, it was a name that found us really.
If you're a fan of late, great jazz vocalist and pianist Blossom Dearie, you might be familiar with a tune she sang, Thou Swell. In the song, she sings about a sweetheart and among the lyrics, these always stood out for us, “…Both thine eyes are cute too, what they do to me. Hear me holler, I choose a sweet lollapalooza in thee…”
When we thought about opening up our chocolate business in 2003, those lyrics surfaced again and made it difficult for us to think of any other possibilities. So, we did a little digging on the meaning of the term lollapalooza. Turns out, it’s a word with Gaelic roots that the Merriam Webster dictionary defines as, “one that is extraordinarily impressive; also: an outstanding example.” While our chocolatier, Brett is Australian, he has both Scottish and Irish heritage, so it seemed fitting that the song that wouldn’t elude us with a Gaelic word in the lyrics was lingering for a reason. After all, we strive to create chocolate that is outstanding and extraordinarily impressive. With a name like that to live up to, we’ve been inspired every day to work hard and improve and enhance every morsel we create.
You can listen to the song that inspired us here. Thank you to the Blossom Dearie family for allowing us to share this song with you. If you’d like to learn more about Blossom, you can explore her music and history here: https://www.blossomdearie.com/.