Shake it, baby: Xander's only qualification to be a barman is having seen Cocktail, a 1988 movie starring Tom Cruise as a drink-mixing dervish of a bartender.

Gobbled up: Willow refers to Wild Turkey, a brand of American bourbon whiskey.

Not doing it for the kids: It's because of California's strict drinking age laws that Xander needs false ID - in the Golden State, no one can drink, or work, in a bar until they're over 21.

If you can remember the sixties...: Reminding Giles that he's had his own run-ins with narcotics, Xander calls him "Mister I spent the 60s in an electric-kool-aid-funky-satan-groove," referring partly to Tom Wolfe's 1967 book The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test, about drug-taking hippies. Giles sniffily contradicts the date - actually the early 70's - but not the facts.

Love the hair: Believe it or not, this episode won an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Hairstyling for a Series. Presumably not for Buffy's cavewoman hair, surely?

Miming it: The music for Veruca's band, Shy, is actually provided by THC, whose song Overfire can be heard. Tinkling the ivories as Shy's keyboard player is George Sarah, THC's songwriter.