Miss Odell

One of the running "gags" of this publication is our lack of having a permanent name. This came about sort of by accident. Before we began this venture, Al sent us to a seminar on creating a newsletter and one of the things that they stressed as being vital was coming up with a good name for the publication. I was told that I needed to think of something catchy, clever, and that had some meaning for the organization. The mere suggestion that the name was almost as important as the content sparked the rebel in me and I decided since we were a music store, we should name the newsletter after a different album every week. That way each newsletter would have a slightly different identity, and could be unique in the way the cover picture of Time or Sports Illustrated gives the magazine a different feel every week.

Over time the joke may have worn out its welcome, but it's now part of who we are and I still like the idea. That we have no real name almost distinguishes us more than if we were to name ourselves something permanent and generic. It gives the newsletter some of its personality. The theory that the name of a publication is so important is based on two principles: 1) You want your readers (especially early on) to know what to expect, to know what the publication is for and about, to get used to the idea that it should become part of their routine to glance through every issue. 2) To establish the editorial tone and content of the publication. You know what to expect from an issue of Cat's Digest but might have to do a little more research on a publication called Max's Monitor.

Names help us identify but unfortunately they also help us label and form our own prejudices. I'll be the first to admit that I enjoy the sound of some people's names more than I should. This past week one of these people whose name I have had fun with in these pages over the past three years told me she wants me to help her come up with a new last name. Her current surname is that of her father's and for her own reasons she no longer wishes this to be. I greeted this challenge with great enthusiasm. About the only fun I ever got from any of my attempts at fiction writing was trying to come up with character names. My friend told me she wanted something French sounding so I suggested everything from Poisson (her mother's maiden name is "Fish") to LaFleur. We are still working on it.

It is odd to think of this person with a different name. Some of my feelings and thoughts about who she is are based upon the name itself. Will thinking of her with a different last name change the way I feel towards her? Hers was a name that I probably enjoyed more than I should of because of its natural lyric lilt. I do understand the appeal of changing her name however. It must be a liberating feeling, a wipe the slate clean and start over breath of fresh air type feeling.

So, I have given some thought over the past week about what we should name the new classical only store. To throw in my two cents, I prefer Cheapo Classical over Applause. I would guess (and of course I have nothing to base this on) that it is only now that people are beginning to get used to the idea of what happened to our Applause stores, and what the difference is between Cheapo Discs and Cheapo Records. To throw the old name of Applause back into the mix might only serve to confuse people more. Speaking from experience as one who is perpetually and increasingly confused, confusion causes anger and discomfort and the desire to throw in the towel, give up all hope of trying to understand.

The name Cheapo Classical is pretty self explanatory and although it may not be the most exciting or flashy, would give the new store some of our old identity. I have another idea but I would guess it would be too hard logistically to follow the newsletter's lead and come up with a new name for the store every week...