A Little Bit of Something Sweet Quiz

Answer: System of a Down

Admittedly, there were a lot of choices when it came to songs called 'Sugar' (same with 'Honey', and Tori Amos has done songs with both titles), but I chose the System of a Down one because it was a rock club favourite during my teenage years. It is the band's debut single, released in 1998, and is on their self-titled album.

The video featured footage from Fritz Lang's 'Metropolis', as well as scenes of nuclear testing and the military. It was frequently played on MTV and as a result, the band attracted attention and were invited to support both Metallica and Slayer; they also played Ozzfest 1998 in the US.

Answer: Mariah Carey

'Honey' is a 1997 single by Mariah Carey, from her sixth album 'Butterfly'. It was the beginning of her foray into hip-hop, and sampled both the piano from 'Hey DJ' by The World's Famous Supreme Team and the bassline from 'The Body Rock' by The Treacherous Three. Carey co-wrote the song with Q-Tip and recorded multiple demos of the song for Puff Daddy to choose from, as she wanted to work with a hip-hop producer. Puff Daddy was impressed at Carey's perfectionism and worked on the hook with her, as well as blending the above samples into the song and providing additional vocals. 'Honey' was Carey's third single to debut at Number One on the 'Billboard' Hot 100.

Answer: Technotronic

'Pump Up the Jam' is a 1989 hit by the Belgian band Technotronic, and one of the first house hits in the US. The rapper on the song is Ya Kid K, a Belgian/Congolese rapper, but like with many dance hits, the video featured a model mouthing the lyrics.

In this case, it was the Congolese model Felly Kilingi, who also appeared on the cover of the single. Ya Kid K was still at school at the time (she was 17 when the song came out) and was also in another band, and did not want to do any promotion. (I heard the Pinky and Perky cover for 'The Pig Attraction' soundtrack long before the original!)

Answer: Sonic Youth

'Bubblegum' is a track on 'EVOL', Sonic Youth's third album, and was included on the CD and cassette versions as a bonus track. It is a cover of a song by Kim Fowley, manager of the Runaways, and is sung by Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon. Mike Watt of the Minutemen played bass. According to Watt, he and new drummer Steve Shelley played along to the original record. The recording of the original was then removed after the other band members recorded their parts. Watt also guested on 'In the Kingdom #19'.

The cover of 'Bubblegum' was also used as a B-side on 'Starpower', the only single from 'EVOL'.

Answer: Supersister

'Coffee' is one of the more obscure entries in this quiz and is a 2000 single by the short-lived girl group Supersister, not to be confused with the Dutch band of the same name. They were signed to Gut Records, an independent label whose roster also included Space (who they later dropped) and Tom Jones, and who went bankrupt in 2008.

The streamer Douglas 'DougDoug' Wreden featured footage from the video in one of his streams, partly because he was trying to get the video on demand muted by playing copyrighted songs, and partly because he thought the video was hilariously terrible (which, to be fair, it is). DougDoug later bought the rights to the song.

Answer: The Velvet Underground

'Candy Says' is the first track on the Velvet Underground's 1969 self-titled album. It is about Candy Darling, a transgender actress who appeared in Andy Warhol's films, and was also a muse for the Velvet Underground. Although Lou Reed wrote it, Doug Yule sang the lead vocal. Anohni, who is also transgender, has performed the song with Reed on two of his live albums, 'Animal Serenade' and 'Berlin: Live at St. Ann's Warehouse'. Reed returned the favour by performing 'Candy Says' with Anohni's band Anohni and the Johnsons, formerly known as Anthony and the Johnsons, in 2005 and at what would be his last public performance in 2013.

Answer: Hot Butter

'Popcorn', originally known as 'Pop Corn', was an instrumental composed by Gershon Kingsley, which appeared on the album 'Music to Moog By'. Kingsley's version was played on a Moog synthesiser. However, it was the 1972 Hot Butter version that became a hit; Kingsley's First Moog Quartet recorded a rearranged version of 'Popcorn', and one member, Stan Free, recorded his own version with Hot Butter.

This version went to Number One across Europe. It has since been covered by the Crazy Frog, and sampled by Tove Lo.

Answer: Shanks & Bigfoot

Brits of a certain age may remember the UK garage craze of the late '90s/early '00s. One single it spawned was 'Sweet like Chocolate' by Shanks & Bigfoot, a UK garage producer duo previously known as Doolally; in fact, it was the first UK garage Number One single in the UK. 'Sweet like Chocolate' had already attracted attention due to being played in clubs before its release, and went to Number One on the UK Singles Chart in 1999. Sharon Woolf, who had sung on the Doolally track 'Straight from the Heart', provided the vocals.

It also has a very memorable animated video set in a world where everything is made of chocolate.

Answer: New Young Pony Club

'Ice Cream' is the 2005 debut single by New Young Pony Club, aka NYPC. They released their debut album, 'Fantastic Playroom', two years later. They were originally a quintet but later slimmed down to a duo of founding members, singer Tahita Bulmer and producer and guitarist Andy Spence (although drummer Sarah Jones played with them in the studio) and changed their name to NYPC to reflect the change. Bulmer got the idea for the band's name from wanting to be part of a club at school, but there was already a band called 'Pony Club', so she added 'New Young' to the name.

Answer: Kelis

'Milkshake' is a single from Kelis' third album 'Tasty'. It was written and produced by Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo of the Neptunes, the producers du jour of the early 2000s. The song became something of a meme, featuring in media from 'Family Guy' to 'Riverdale', and was also parodied in a 2015 advert for Cinnamon Toast Crunch. As with many of the songs in this quiz, it's not about the actual food in question (although Kelis does toy with an actual milkshake in the video); the meaning of the song is open to interpretation.

On 12th September 2017, National Chocolate Milkshake Day, Kelis teamed up with Bailey's to make her own chocolate milkshake recipe. It contains Bailey's Original Irish Cream Liqueur, ice cream, ginger beer, candied ginger and half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper, and is served in a glass rimmed with cinnamon chilli sugar and topped with ginger-infused whipped cream and a piece of candied ginger.