12 Facts About Dave Laing

David William Laing was an English writer, editor, and broadcaster, specialising in the history and development of pop and rock music.

Dave Laing was a research fellow at the universities of Westminster and Liverpool.

Dave Laing was born in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, and attended King's College School in Wimbledon, where he joined his first band.

Dave Laing began studies at St Catharine's College, Cambridge, but left in 1967 without graduating and moved to London.

Dave Laing started writing music articles and his first book, The Sound of Our Time, while working in clerical jobs.

Dave Laing then took a degree in English and sociology at the University of Sussex, where he met fellow writer Phil Hardy.

Dave Laing worked with Val Wilmer on an unpublished history of coal mining communities.

At the suggestion of writer Charlie Gillett, Dave Laing became editor of the monthly British music magazine Let It Rock, from October 1972 to October 1973.

Dave Laing co-authored, with Phil Hardy, The Faber Companion to 20th Century Popular Music, and co-wrote, with Sarah Davis, The Guerrilla Guide to the Music Business.

Dave Laing was an editor of the Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World.

Dave Laing wrote widely in music magazines and newspapers, including The Guardian.

Dave Laing died of cancer on 7 January 2019, at the age of 71.