A10

Reading preview in What’s Happening?

Photocopied listings zine spread: band article at left, gig calendar in the centre, advert and What’s Happening? banner
Reading listings zine spread previewing The New English at St David’s Hall on Friday 27 November, year inferred as 1987, with Johnny Rasheed on soul pop.Full-size image
Type
Local listing and interview
Date as printed
FRIDAY 27th NOVEMBER
Date note
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.
Evidence
Contemporary document, details in conflict
Source tier
A: Contemporary primary document A10
Also named
St David’s Hall, London Road, Reading, The Brilliant Corners, Rick Astley, Voice Of The Beehive, All About Eve, Melody Maker, What’s Happening?, Readifolk at the George Hotel, Yargo, Paradise
Image credit
What’s Happening? The article has no byline.
Web copy
Private contact details are masked on this web copy. The original document is unchanged.

A spread from a Reading listings zine, with a What’s Happening? banner at lower right and an article on The New English in the left column. The article says the London band is coming down the M4 to play St David’s Hall on London Road on Friday 27th November, notes that the band has been grouped with the Indie Pop bands, and quotes singer and bassist Johnny Rasheed on wanting to lose that label and move towards soul pop. Shareef is described as the guitarist. The centre column is a gig calendar running from late November to early December, and the right column carries an interview with a different band, Yargo, so remarks there are not about The New English. The year is not printed; the weekdays fit 1987, among other years, and the band’s known activity points to 1987. The page advertises a date and does not prove the concert took place.

We’re trying to move more towards soul pop.

Johnny Rasheed, quoted in the preview article; the band’s own description of its direction, not critical praise.
  • St David’s Hall, Reading. Date unresolved Readings: 27 November 1987 (A10); 23 November 1987 (B01). The advertised and the later date differ; the performance date is not established.

Source note

This is a scan supplied to the archive and catalogued here. Reproduced from a scan supplied to this archive. No licence for reuse is implied.

Cite this item

Reading preview in What’s Happening?. The New English Archive. Last substantive revision 5 November 2026. https://thenewenglish.org/archive/reading-preview-interview/

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