Super Furry Animals Trivia Quiz

Answer: 'Show Biz Kids' by Steely Dan

'The Man Don't Give a [Censored]' is the name of the song, and it was originally going to be a B-side for 'If You Don't Want Me to Destroy You', but was released as a single in its own right as the band could not get the sample cleared in time. Donald Fagen of Steely Dan initially did not want SFA sampling the song.

The band agreed to give Fagen 95% of the proceeds from the single, as they figured it probably would not be getting much airplay. The song was used as the closing track at many of the bands' gigs (including the one I went to in Manchester in 2003), and would often turn into an extended jam session. One live version of the song, released in 2004, features the rude word 100 times and is 23 minutes long!

Answer: Dafydd Ieuan

Dafydd Ieuan was Catatonia's second drummer - the first being Stephen 'Frog' Jenkins, who was also a member of U Thant - and played drums on their first two EPs, 'For Tinkerbell' and 'Hooked', and early singles 'Whale' and 'Bleed'. He left Catatonia to focus on SFA, who had formed around the same time, and was replaced by Aled Richards, although he still appears in the artwork for Catatonia's debut album 'Way Beyond Blue'. SFA bassist Guto Pryce was also an early member of Catatonia.

Answer: Albert Einstein's parents

The cover of the single (painted by Peter Fowler) is a giveaway, as it features a hippy couple holding a baby Einstein, complete with moustache and mad hair. As the song goes, 'Hermann loves Pauline, and Pauline loves Hermann / They made love, and gave birth to a little German / They called him MC squared cos he raps like none other' (a reference to Einstein's E=mc2 theory). Gruff Rhys was inspired to write the song after reading miniature biographies of famous people at service stations.

Answer: Steel drums

Cian Ciaran had no idea how to play the steel drums, not that you can tell if you listen to the song! They were lying around the studio during recording, and the band used them on the spur of the moment. 'Northern Lites' was the first single released from 'Guerrilla', the band's third album, and charted at Number 11 on the UK singles chart.

(I own a copy of 'Northern Lites' and it's one of my favourite SFA songs, so it had to go in.)

Answer: Mwng

'Mwng' was the first album to be released on Plaid Casual, the band's own label, after their original label Creation dissolved. SFA had written several Welsh songs while working on 'Guerrilla', and instead of using them as B-sides or random album tracks, they decided to compile them all into a Welsh language album. 'Mwng' also included 'Dacw Hi', a song that Gruff Rhys had written in 1987, and a cover of 'Y Teimlad' by Welsh rock band Datblygu. It charted at Number 11 on the UK album chart, and was the first Welsh language album to reach the top 20, to the point where a Welsh MP even mentioned it in the House of Commons.

'Y Brawd Houdini' ('Brother Houdini'), incidentally, is a Welsh song by the Welsh singer Meic Stevens. It is one of Gruff Rhys' favourite songs.

Answer: Crunchy vegetables

Beach Boys fans will appreciate this question - SFA were inspired by Paul McCartney's guest appearance on 'Vegetables', where he munched vegetables into the microphone. He did exactly the same thing on 'Receptacle for the Respectable'. The vegetables he was eating, according to Wikipedia, were carrots and celery. John Cale of the Velvet Underground also guested on the album, playing piano on 'Presidential Suite'.

Answer: Golden Retriever

The album was originally going to be a concept album, using a special guitar tuning of D-A-D-D-A-D, but the band decided against the idea as they felt it would be too restrictive. However, 'Golden Retriever' was written with that particular tuning. It was inspired by Gruff Rhys' girlfriend's dogs. The song charted at Number 13 on the UK singles chart. Some fans criticised it for being too radio-friendly compared to their previous work.

The yeti outfits which the band wore in the video also featured on their 2003 tour; they came out for the encore dressed as yetis (and only wore the suits for a short time as they were so hot!)

Answer: Neon Neon

Neon Neon were formed in 2008, and were originally called DeLorean. They released their debut album 'Stainless Style' in March of that year and a second album, 'Praxis Makes Perfect', in 2013. Gruff Rhys has also released solo albums, including 'Yr Atal Genhedlaeth', 'Hotel Shampoo' and 'Babelsberg'.

As for other SFA members' side projects, Cian Ciaran was also in Zefur Wolves with his girlfriend Estelle Ios, while Huw Bunford formed Pale Blue Dots with Richard Chester in 2013.

Answer: Rhys Ifans

Rhys Ifans has appeared in 'Twin Town', 'Notting Hill', 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows', and 'The Shipping News', amongst other films. He used to live with Dafydd Ieuan, and sang with an early line-up of SFA, when they were more of a techno outfit than an indie/rock band.

The Peth (Welsh for 'thing') also included Osian and Meilir Gwynedd of Big Leaves, SFA percussionist Kris Jenkins and Dic Ben, another former SFA member. Osian Gwynedd also played keyboards with Catatonia on tour. The Peth's debut album, 'The Golden Mile', was released in 2008.

Answer: True

The name of the record in question, released in 1995, was 'Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch (In Space)'. It is named after a town on the Welsh island of Anglesey, called Llanfairpwllgwyngyll for short, which has the longest place name in Europe.