Methodology, sources and research data

This page explains how the archive is put together. The other pages tell the story plainly, and this is the one place where their limits are set out.

Last substantive revision:

How to read this archive

This is a curated archive. It was assembled from documents supplied to it, catalogue entries and later accounts.

The site states the history plainly and does not repeat qualifications beside each sentence. Much of it has not been independently confirmed. Early dates, some gig dates, the line-up history, the later groups and the musicians’ equipment come from a later wiki-style account and its copies, which count as one source, and that account’s own sources were challenged by Wikipedia editors. Support slots, the Wimbledon Festival and Network East come from band publicity, and no programme listing naming the band has been read. Recording places come from YouTube upload notes on the channel sc101101, which has not been identified as official. The 2001 CDr and the credits on Inspiration come from user-submitted Discogs entries.

Posters, tickets and previews record what was advertised, and they do not prove that a performance took place. Only the Tunnel Club and Le Beat Route shows are described by a review. The gig list is not complete: the Le Beat Route review calls that show their tenth since October, and the list holds five. Years that a document does not print are attributed from labels supplied with the scans, weekdays or context. Reviews and interviews are fanzine writing, and interview answers and publicity give the band’s own view. The streaming audio has not been compared with any 1980s recording, and the demo tape and the album tracks of the same names may be different recordings.

Where sources disagree, the main pages follow the contemporary document, and the disagreement is listed under open questions below. That includes the spelling of Sara’s name, the band’s origin, several dates and the billing of the 1997 performance. The four images from Wikimedia Commons keep the licences stated there, and the author and date labels on those files are as uploaded. Song pages treat titles that differ only in wording, such as Alone and I Rather Be Alone, as one song, which is a reading of the titles and is not stated in any document.

The data files keep the type of evidence for each record, so anyone using them can separate what is documented from what is reported.

Open questions

These conflicts are unresolved. The archive shows each reading and does not choose between them.

  • Drummer identity. The publicity sheet gives the handwritten name Sara Hewes; a later account calls the drummer Sarah Hughes. The archive uses Sara until the credit is confirmed. A12, B01
  • Network East date. A clipped date on the band’s publicity ends /9/87, and a later account gives a different month. The Network East broadcast date is unresolved. A08, A12, B01
  • Zeeta’s performance date. The ticket says Thursday 11 February; a later chronology says 10 February 1988. The performance date is unresolved. A04, B01
  • St David’s Hall date. The listing advertises Friday 27 November; a later list says 23 November. The performance date is unresolved. A10, B01
  • Solo poster year. A faint pencil note on the solo poster appears to read 1995, while the label supplied with the scan says 1993. The printed weekday rules out 1993. 1995 is an inference. A01
  • Bonn show: month and city. The poster gives Saturday 17 February, while an upload note says March 1990. Bonn comes from a later account and the upload note, not from the poster. A07, B02, Y07
  • Interview issue dating. Page two of an interview contains a review dated 2 April 1987, so it cannot be safely paired with the first page as one dated issue. A11, A14
  • 1997 artist attribution. A mirror’s infobox calls the 1997 Bracknell item a New English reunion, while its narrative gives The Internationalists. The archive keeps the later duo separate. B01, B02
  • Predecessor bassist tenure. A later account says Dave Beech left shortly after May 1986. No contemporary document names Dave in the band. B01
  • Joz’s role. Later accounts call Joz a vocalist, while a quiz beside the 1987 caption asks who left the band with no bassist. A09, B01
  • Length of the partnership. A publicity sheet says the band had been together about eight months, yet a review places them on stage in October 1986. A08, A05
  • Two versions of London 1987. Discogs lists a fifteen-track CDr from 2001, while platforms list an eleven-track digital album from 2019. No document here confirms the CDr. B14, B03, B05
  • Fanzine titles. The two live reviews probably come from one fanzine whose title is not shown. The Reading pages share a contact block. A05, A09, A10, A11, A13
  • Origin. Band publicity and an interview say Fulham, a Le Beat Route reviewer wrote “the band from the East End”, and a later account says Surrey. A08, A14, A09, B01, B15
  • Demo and album versions. The demo reviewed in What’s Happening?, the Network East recording and the Triple X sessions may be different versions of the same songs. A13, B01, Y04
  • Alone. Alone, Alone (I’d Rather Be) and I Rather Be Alone look like one song, but no source says so. B05, B29, B14

Notes on dates

Where each item’s date comes from.

  • The New English, May 1986. The date comes from the file title and date field on Wikimedia Commons.
  • The New English, October 1986. The date comes from the file title and date field on Wikimedia Commons.
  • Tunnel Club review, 28 October 1986. The date is printed in the review heading as 28/10/86 and the text calls it a ‘very wet Tuesday’, which agrees with the calendar (28 October 1986 was a Tuesday); it dates the gig, not the publication of the fanzine issue.
  • Fanzine interview, first page. No date is printed on the page; the scan label’s October 1986 is unsupported, and the page ends “or look at the next page!” while the apparent next page (A11) carries a review dated 2/4/87, which would put the issue in April 1987 or later if the two pages belong together.
  • Le Beat Route review, 23 February 1987. Printed in the review heading as 23.2.87 (the day’s second digit is slightly damaged but reads 3); 23 February 1987 was a Monday by calendar calculation, and the page itself was printed later because it also carries a review dated late March 1987.
  • The New English at the Wimbledon Festival, July 1987. The month comes from the file title on Wikimedia Commons and the gig list, which gives 11 July 1987.
  • Rock Garden band pass, 7 December 1987. The date is handwritten on the pass as 7/12/87.
  • Reading poster for 15 May. Day and month are printed (‘15 MAY’) with no weekday or year; the label supplied with the scan says May 1987 and a later list gives 15 May 1987, but nothing on the scan itself confirms the year (15 May 1987 was a Friday, which the poster cannot confirm).
  • Reading preview in What’s Happening?. The day and month are printed in the article; the year is not printed, and the weekday pattern across the listings (Friday 27 November with Monday 30th, Tuesday 1 December and Sunday 6 December) fits 1981, 1987 and 1992, so 1987 is inferred from the band’s activity and the Rick Astley remark, and the date is an advertised one rather than a confirmed performance.
  • Rock Garden admission card, 7 December. Weekday, day and month are printed as Monday 7 DEC, and the band pass for the same night gives 7/12/87.
  • Band publicity biography. The sheet carries no date of its own; the only date is for the Network East appearance, printed with the day clipped at the left edge and ending “/9/87” (September 1987 on UK day/month order), so by its own wording the sheet was written on or after that appearance.
  • Publicity sheet with trio photograph. No date or year is printed; the sheet says only “so far this year” and “recently appeared” on Network East, and the label supplied with the scan attributes it to 1987, which A08’s September 1987 Network East date makes plausible but does not prove.
  • Demo review: Get Ready and This Evening. No date or year is printed; the news column lists dates from 9 March to 5 April without a year, which puts the issue in early spring of an unstated year, and the label supplied with the scan attributes it to 1987.
  • Interview in The Mighty Utterance!. No issue date is printed; the only date on the page is 2/4/87 on the Pressgang Club review, a Thursday as that review says the club runs on Thursdays, so the page cannot have been printed before 2 April 1987 and the October 1986 in the label supplied with the scan does not fit it.
  • Zeeta’s ticket, 11 February. Weekday, day and month are handwritten (‘THURS 11th FEB’) with no year; the archive attributes the card to 1988 and 11 February was a Thursday in 1988, but a later chronology gives 10 February (a Wednesday in 1988), so the performance date stays unresolved.
  • Bazooka poster with S.P.G., 17 February. Weekday (German ‘Samstag’), month and day are handwritten but no year is given; 17 February was a Saturday in 1990, which agrees with the label supplied with the scan, so 1990 is a consistent attribution but not a printed fact.
  • Johnny Rasheed at MacDevitt’s Bar: solo poster. Day and month are printed (‘SATURDAY 11th MARCH’); the year is a faint handwritten pencil note reading 1995 at the lower left, which agrees with the weekday (11 March was a Saturday in 1995 but a Thursday in 1993, the year in the label supplied with the scan), although the annotation’s author and date are unknown and the owner has not confirmed it.
  • Johnny Rasheed: Saturday running order. Nothing is printed except the weekday heading ‘SATURDAY’; the label supplied with the scan says 1993, but no year, event name or venue appears on the scan to confirm it.

How evidence is treated

Every statement on the site links to its sources, and the data files carry the type of evidence behind each record.

A printed weekday can support a year but does not prove a performance. A catalogue date is a release date and not a recording date.

Source tiers

A tier describes the type of source, not whether a statement is true. Read each entry together with its qualification.

AContemporary primary document
A document from the period, or datable to it where stated: a review, a fanzine interview, a ticket or a poster.A01, A02, A03, A04, A05, A06, A09, A10, A11, A13, A14, A15, A16, A17, A18
BBand publicity
Contemporary publicity made by the band or its agency. It shows what the band claimed and is not independent.A07, A08, A12
CCatalogues and platforms
Music platforms and specialist catalogues. They confirm listings and release dates, not recording dates.B03, B04, B05, B12, B13, B14, B15, B16, B17, B18, B19, B20, B21, B22, B23, B28, B29, B30
DUploader notes
Descriptions written by the uploader of a video. The channel sc101101 has not been identified as official.Y01, Y02, Y03, Y04, Y05, Y06, Y07, Y08
ERetrospective and reference
Later accounts from a wiki-style article and its copies, which count as one source family and are used as attributed leads, plus encyclopedia and local news pages used only for background on venues and programmes.B01, B02, B24, B25, B26, B31, B32, B33, B34, B35

Biographies to quote

Three lengths of the same short biography, written only from the sources listed in the register below.

50 words

The New English were a London indie pop band of the late 1980s. Johnny Rasheed (bass and vocals) and Shareef C (guitar) grew up in Fulham and played together from 1983. The main period of the band ran from 1986 to 1988, and the digital album London 1987 followed on 2 January 2019.

A08, A14, B01, B03

100 words

The New English were a London indie pop band of the late 1980s, with Johnny Rasheed (bass and vocals), Shareef C (guitar), Joz (vocals) and Sara (drums). Fanzines reviewed them at the Tunnel Club, Greenwich, on 28 October 1986 and at Le Beat Route, London, on 23 February 1987. They supported the Brilliant Corners and Frank Chickens and appeared on the BBC Two programme Network East. The main period ended in 1988. Johnny Rasheed’s solo CD Inspiration appeared in 1993, and the eleven-track digital album London 1987 on 2 January 2019.

A05, A08, A09, A12, A14, B01, B03, B04

250 words

The New English were a London indie pop band of the late 1980s. Johnny Rasheed and Shareef C grew up in Fulham, first met as children and began playing together as Years of Backwater in 1983, then as The Fallen Idols with Dave Beech on bass. The name The New English followed in 1986. Johnny played bass and sang, Shareef played guitar, and the line-up also included Joz on vocals and Sara on drums. Their reference points included Felt, Morrissey and the Redskins.

Fanzines reviewed the band at the Tunnel Club, Greenwich, on 28 October 1986, when the writer counted an audience of 25, and at Le Beat Route, London, on 23 February 1987, when the reviewer called them the liveliest band of the night. Both reviews praise Shareef’s guitar playing. The band supported the Brilliant Corners and Frank Chickens, played the Wimbledon Festival and appeared on the BBC Two programme Network East in 1987. A Reading preview has Johnny talking about a move towards soul pop.

The main period ended in March 1988, and the band reunited for a show with S.P.G. at the Bazooka in Bonn in February 1990. Johnny and Shareef went on to the acoustic duo The Internationalists, and Johnny released the solo CD Inspiration in 1993. A CDr called London 1987 appeared in 2001, and the eleven-track digital album of the same title followed on 2 January 2019.

A08, A10, A12, A14, A05, A09, B01, A07, B02, B03, B04, B05

How to cite

Cite the underlying document where you can, then this archive as the place it is catalogued. A suggested form is the page title, The New English Archive, the date of the last substantive revision and the page address, as shown in the box below.

The New English | Methodology, Sources and Data. The New English Archive. Last substantive revision 6 November 2026. https://thenewenglish.uk/research/

Data files

The same eligible information that is on the pages is available as plain Markdown and structured JSON. Crawler access to these files is not a licence to reuse the material.

Source register

The sources behind this site, with their tiers. Scans are cited at their own page in this archive, and other sources link to the original. B01 and B02, two copies of a former Wikipedia article, are named here without a link.

SourceSource tierTitleTypeDate
A01AJohnny Rasheed at MacDevitt’s Bar: solo poster Poster for a free Johnny Rasheed evening at MacDevitt’s Bar, Reading, Saturday 11 March 1995.Archive itemSATURDAY 11th MARCH...8pm; a faint pencil note at lower left appears to read 1995
A02AJohnny Rasheed: Saturday running order A printed Saturday running order listing Johnny Rasheed with four other acts.Archive itemSATURDAY (heading only; no date or year printed)
A03ARock Garden admission card, 7 December Rock Garden admission card for The New English at “Breakthrough I”, Monday 7 December 1987, £3 at the door.Archive itemMonday 7 DEC; 7.30pm - 3am
A04AZeeta’s ticket, 11 February Red-printed Zeeta’s club card with The New English, Thurs 11th Feb 1988 and 10.30pm written in by hand.Archive itemTHURS 11th FEB (handwritten); Onstage 10-30PM (handwritten)
A05ATunnel Club review, 28 October 1986 A fanzine Reviews page with a review of The New English and The Third Man at the Tunnel Club, Greenwich, 28 October 1986.Archive item28/10/86
A06AReading poster for 15 May Poster for New English on 15 May 1987, with admission prices and a Reading address.Archive item15 MAY
A07BBazooka poster with S.P.G., 17 February Handwritten poster billing S.P.G. (UK) and The New English (UK) at the Bazooka, Bonn, Saturday 17 February 1990.Archive itemSAMSTAG FEB. 17TH 20.[overwritten digit]0 UHR
A08BBand publicity biography Band publicity biography describing a Fulham childhood, a first national television appearance and songs about teenage love.Archive itemNETWORK EAST - [day clipped]/9/87
A09ALe Beat Route review, 23 February 1987 Fanzine page reviewing The New English at Le Beat Route on 23 February 1987, with a photograph captioned to say Joz, in the middle, had left the band.Archive item23.2.87
A10AReading preview in What’s Happening? Reading listings zine spread previewing The New English at St David’s Hall on Friday 27 November 1987, with Johnny Rasheed on soul pop.Archive itemFRIDAY 27th NOVEMBER
A11AInterview in The Mighty Utterance! Mighty Utterance! interview with The New English: Johnny on London, teenage love and the band name.Archive item2/4/87 (printed on a separate review on the page; the band interview itself is undated)
A12BPublicity sheet with trio photograph Band publicity sheet with a trio photograph, handwritten booking details for A C Promotion and a typed question-and-answer section.Archive itemNo date printed
A13ADemo review: Get Ready and This Evening Demo review of The New English in the What’s Happening? zine, covering the songs Get Ready and This Evening.Archive itemNo date printed
A14AFanzine interview, first page First page of a fanzine interview with The New English, naming Johnny Rasheed on bass and vocals and Shareef on guitars, with a drum machine.Archive itemNo date printed
A15AThe New English, May 1986 Colour band photograph from Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.Archive itemChecked 5 November 2026
A16AThe New English, October 1986 Colour band photograph from Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.Archive itemChecked 5 November 2026
A17AThe New English at the Wimbledon Festival, July 1987 Colour stage photograph from Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.Archive itemChecked 5 November 2026
A18ARock Garden band pass, 7/12/87 Band pass from Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.Archive itemChecked 5 November 2026
B01EThe New English on EverybodyWiki Retrospective account derived from a former Wikipedia article. Treated as a later account, not as independent corroboration.Later account
B02EThe New English on Wikibin Mirror of the same article as B01. The two are one source family and are not counted separately.Later account
B03CLondon 1987 on Apple Music Catalogue listing: eleven tracks, a digital release date of 2 January 2019 and a RipItUp Records credit. A catalogue date is a release date, not a recording date.Platform catalogue
B04CJohnny Rasheed on TweeNet Specialist catalogue listing for Inspiration (CD, 1993, Jackfruit Music, eight listed songs). A catalogue entry, not a biography.Specialist catalogue
B05CLondon 1987 on Amazon Music Album listing with track order and durations.Platform catalogue
B12CYou Make My Day Shine on Spotify Platform listing for one track of London 1987. It is not evidence of an 1980s commercial release.Platform catalogue
B13CThe New English on Amazon artist page Platform artist page. Its popular-track order is not the album sequence and is not used as a track listing.Platform catalogue
B14CLondon 1987 (CDr, 2001) on Discogs User-submitted Discogs entry, data quality “Needs Vote”: CDr, Jackfruit Music JRJF004, 2001, fifteen tracks. Not confirmed by any document in this archive.Platform catalogueChecked 5 November 2026
B15CInspiration by Johnny Rasheed on Discogs User-submitted Discogs entry with data quality “Correct”: catalogue number JRJF001 and a guitar credit for Shareef C.Platform catalogueChecked 5 November 2026
B16CThe New English on Spotify Platform artist page.Platform catalogueChecked 5 November 2026
B17CThe New English on Apple Music Platform artist page.Platform catalogueChecked 5 November 2026
B18CLondon 1987 on Deezer Eleven tracks, release date 2 January 2019.Platform catalogueChecked 5 November 2026
B19CLondon 1987 on Tidal Eleven tracks, 35:09, release date 2 January 2019.Platform catalogueChecked 5 November 2026
B20CThe New English on YouTube (Topic channel) Channel generated automatically by YouTube from the 2019 distributor delivery. It is separate from the channel sc101101.Platform catalogueChecked 5 November 2026
B21CLondon 1987 on Spotify Album page, release date 2 January 2019.Platform catalogueChecked 5 November 2026
B22CNew English on AllMusic (a different act) Used only to distinguish names: this AllMusic entry lists a 2005 album on Popster and is not the band in this archive.Platform catalogueChecked 5 November 2026
B23CThe New English Rock Ensemble on Apple Music (a different act) Used only to distinguish names. This is not the band in this archive.Platform catalogueChecked 5 November 2026
B24E1987 in British television on Wikipedia Reference for what Network East was. It does not mention The New English.Background referenceChecked 5 November 2026
B25ETunnel Club history in Greenwich Wire Local news reference for the venue. It does not mention The New English.Background referenceChecked 5 November 2026
B26EGreek Street on Wikipedia Reference for the address of Le Beat Route. It does not mention The New English.Background referenceChecked 5 November 2026
B28CNew English on Discogs Artist entry holding the 2001 CDr. A 1989 compilation credit on the same entry may belong to a different group.Platform catalogueChecked 5 November 2026
B29C3am Radio England on Spotify Eight-track compilation dated 28 February 2015.Platform catalogueChecked 5 November 2026
B30C3am Radio England on Apple Music Eight-track compilation with a RipItUp Records credit.Platform catalogueChecked 5 November 2026
B31EInterview with the founder of Twee.net on the Cloudberry Records blog Names Inspiration among five obscure indiepop recommendations. Independent of the band.Background referenceChecked 5 November 2026
B32EC86 on Wikipedia Reference for the NME cassette of May 1986. It does not mention The New English.Background referenceChecked 5 November 2026
B33EShapers of the 80s on Le Beat Route Reference for the club. It does not mention The New English.Background referenceChecked 5 November 2026
B34ENetwork East on the Pebble Mill archive Reference for where the programme was made. It does not mention The New English.Background referenceChecked 5 November 2026
B35EIn Fear Of Fear live at Bazooka, Bonn, September 1990 Independent record of a venue called Bazooka in Bonn in 1990.Background referenceChecked 5 November 2026
Y01DYouTube upload: The New English - The Day After Tomorrow Description written by the uploader of the channel sc101101, which has not been identified as an official channel. Recording places and dates in the description are the uploader’s notes, not independently verified.Video upload noteUploaded 8 July 2024
Y02DYouTube upload: The New English - This Evening Description written by the uploader of the channel sc101101, which has not been identified as an official channel. Recording places and dates in the description are the uploader’s notes, not independently verified.Video upload noteUploaded 7 August 2024
Y03DYouTube upload: The New English - You Make My Day Shine Description written by the uploader of the channel sc101101, which has not been identified as an official channel. Recording places and dates in the description are the uploader’s notes, not independently verified.Video upload noteUploaded 18 August 2024
Y04DYouTube upload: The New English - Get Ready! Description written by the uploader of the channel sc101101, which has not been identified as an official channel. Recording places and dates in the description are the uploader’s notes, not independently verified.Video upload noteUploaded 1 September 2024
Y05DYouTube upload: The New English - You Make My Day Shine (99Mix) Description written by the uploader of the channel sc101101, which has not been identified as an official channel. Recording places and dates in the description are the uploader’s notes, not independently verified.Video upload noteUploaded 1 October 2024
Y06DYouTube upload: The New English "This Evening" The upload’s own description is the text “abc”. The link to Network East comes from a later account.Video upload noteUploaded 18 February 2014
Y07DYouTube upload: The New English - Get Ready! (Live) Description written by the uploader of the channel sc101101, which has not been identified as an official channel. Recording places and dates in the description are the uploader’s notes, not independently verified.Video upload noteUploaded 1 September 2024
Y08DYouTube upload: The New English - Bracknell Festival July 1997 Description written by the uploader of the channel sc101101, which has not been identified as an official channel. Recording places and dates in the description are the uploader’s notes, not independently verified.Video upload noteUploaded 12 July 2025

Changelog

Real changes to the content, with their dates.

  • . Song pages, gig pages and a timeline. Each song now has its own page with its versions, streaming links, mentions in the archive and videos. Nine gigs with a surviving document have their own pages, and the documents link to them. A timeline shows gigs, recordings and documents from 1983 to 2019, and the archive can be sorted and opened at random.
  • . Four Commons items and more sources. Four items from Wikimedia Commons joined the archive: two band photographs from 1986, a photograph of the Wimbledon Festival in July 1987 and the Rock Garden band pass. More sources were added for the 2015 compilation, the venues and the television programme.
  • . First public release. The archive was published with fourteen scanned documents, a gig chronology, a timeline, two releases and eight videos, each with its sources.