'I never intended this to be a book' says Dave Ian Hill of Fog on The Tyne: The Official History Of Lindisfarne.

'I interviewed Ray Laidlaw as part of a series of pieces on the musicians and bands of the North East - and the next thing I knew he gave me several carrier bags of cuttings as "research". I soon realised that all he wanted was for me to get them in order ...'

Born in Lemington, Newcastle On Tyne in December 1958, Dave's first introduction to music came via his parents' "small, but intriguing" LP collection. From his father came the jazz and big-band sounds of Glenn Miller, Dizzy Gillespie and George Shearing - and from his mother the voices of Peggy Lee, Lena Horne and Shirley Bassey.

At school, Dave embraced Glam and especially Marc Bolan: 'The Slider' by T.Rex was the first LP he bought. Soon after Bolan, he fell for the be-denimed delights of Status Quo. Leaving school to join Newcastle City Council in 1975, he was drawn to the City Hall, where he began helping out with the stage crews at gigs.

Soon, he was helping set up the gear for Elton John, Wings, Genesis, Lynyrd Skynyrd and his beloved Quo. Stage Manager at the time was Colin Rowell, now at Zenith North, producers of The White Room. Sadly, Dave's 'sensible' head took control and instead, his best mate at school went on to do all right for himself with Motorhead and Eurythmics (where are you now, Richie Armstrong ?).

A move to Hartlepool with a new job towards the end of the 1970s seemed to put an end to any 'music biz' aspirations, but in the early 1980s - following various sales jobs and some time with the first flush of cable TV - 'door to door selling, actually' - Dave began managing a Virgin Retail store in Stockton. He had done some voluntary promotion work for Jonathan King in and around Newcastle and this had whetted his appetite. When management changed, Dave found himself out of work for almost three years, but spent time writing live reviews for the Hartlepool Mail, becoming involved with Durham Street Recording Studios (now The Studio) and helping set up a music collective. For a while he also managed a band; 'Never again!' he now says.

Finally working on the road for the Virgin record label, on his first day Dave succeeded in getting Lenny Kravitz lost in Swalwell after collecting him from a radio station. When the Thorn-EMI takeover of Virgin came, Dave was made redundant, although he had already begun co-ordinating several reissues of rare, 'live' and unreleased material for the label. Two titles were by Lindisfarne, whom he had known since 1988. Entitled 'Buried Treasures Volumes I & II', they received excellent reviews. Subsequently, Dave was invited to act as consultant for another Virgin company who were about to begin a reissue programme.

Continuing to collect material for the Lindisfarne project, it had soon become clear that no such publication had been attempted before and in 1993, Dave carried out dozens of interviews right across the UK, including musicians, producers and friends of the band, accompanying them on live dates, contributing to tour programmes and working with founder member Rod Clements on his solo album and tour.

Following Alan Hull's death in 1995, Dave was asked to become the band's publicist; responsible for all their press and radio activity. He had been working with several other clients by this time, looking after publicity on behalf of several record labels, but the Lindisfarne offer came as a surprise: 'it was a huge honour to be involved in the challange of re establishing the band's name after Alan's death, but it was quite strange at first - especially as I was also looking after the press for Alan's final solo album.'

Dave (who is currently running the National Diploma in Communications at Cleveland College of Art & Design) is delighted to be the part of the regeneration the band is enjoying with a new studio album, 'Here Comes The Neighbourhood', on Park Records. At Christmas 1997, Northdoen Publishing - who had also issued books on Ralph McTell, Dr. Feelgood and Man - stepped in with an offer of publishing what Dave had given the working title Can't Kill The Spirit.

Released to coincide with the first leg of Lindisfarne's 1998 winter tour, Dave believes that of Fog on The Tyne: The Official History Of Lindisfarne will appeal to more than just committed fans: 'The book's appeal is that, on the one hand, there is the detail that some fans expect; but there is also plenty for the lapsed fan or the casual buyer who simply wants to read what is, after all, simply just a great story ...'

Fog on The Tyne: The Official History Of Lindisfarne is published on 16 November 1998, price  �14.95, by Northdown Publishing.