Jack Names the Planets

Single infobox
Name = Jack Names The Planets


Artist = Ash
from Album = Trailer
B-side = "Don't Know"
Released = February 1994
Label = La La Land
Length = 3:12
Producer = Mark Waterman
Format = 7"
Recorded = 1993
Genre = Brit-Pop
Chart position = n/a
Last single = none
This single = "Jack Names The Planets"
(1994)
Next single = "Petrol"
(1994)Single infobox
Name = Jack Names The Planets (2002 Re-Release)


Artist = Ash
from Album = Intergalactic Sonic 7″s
B-side = "Don't Know", "Season"
Released = December 2 2002
Label = Double Dragon
Length = 3:12
Producer = Mark Waterman
Format = CD
Recorded = 1993
Genre = Brit-Pop
Chart position = n/a
Last single = "Envy"
(2002)
This single = "Jack Names The Planets"
(2002)
Next single = "Orpheus"
(2004)"Jack Names the Planets" is a song by Ash. It was their first official single release in February 1994. It was originally released on vinyl only. The single version of the song is also entirely different from the album version that appears on their EP, "Trailer". The single was re-released in 2002 in CD format, and the Raptor 12" version of "Season" as an extra b-side, as a limited edition release on December 2 2002 as part of the promotion for the "Intergalactic Sonic 7″s" greatest hits collection.

The song first appeared on the "Shed" demo tape, recorded in 1992 and again on the "Garage Girl" and "Pipe Smokin' Brick" demo-tapes. They were first signed when a copy of "Garage Girl" was given to Stephen 'Tav' Tavner, and signed them on the basis of "Jack Names the Planets".

Only 2,000 copies of the single were released, and the single was recorded on a £300 budget. However, the band was unhappy with the version released on the 1994 single, and re-recorded it for their debut album.

The title of the track is taken from a chapter of a Stephen King and Peter Straub novel called "The Talisman (1984 novel)". This book is further referenced in some of the lyrics.

The single's B-side, "Don't Know", first appeared on the "Garage Girl" demo tape.

In 1995, the song appeared on the soundtrack for the film "Angus". Clips from the movie were interspersed with footage of Ash performing as figures in moving posters for the video of "Jack Names the Planets", which was also released in 1995. Phil Harder directed the video.

The first 50,000 pressings of Ash's debut full-length album, "1977" began with "Jack Names the Planets" and "Don't Know" as hidden tracks found by rewinding the CD, before the usual opener "Lose Control". "Jack Names the Planets" also appeared on Ash's first greatest hits collection "Intergalactic Sonic 7″s", and is considered somewhat of a fan and band favourite. It is rarely not included in their live setlist.

During the spoken section at the beginning of the song, two Dutchmen, one of them being Jaap Boots, a Dutch radio host, suggest that the song should have been called "Jack Names The Planet Nieuw-Vennep", given that, in their opinion, "Nieuw-Vennep" is a good name for a planet. Nieuw-Vennep is a town of thirty thousand inhabitants in the west of Holland, midway between The Hague and Amsterdam.

Track listing

1994 7"
#"Jack Names the Planets" (Wheeler)
#"Don't Know" (Ash)

2002 CD Re-Release
#"Jack Names the Planets" (Wheeler)
#"Don't Know" (Ash)
#"Season" (Wheeler)