[1] Fred Dellar was born in Willesden, London, and lived above a fish and chip shop which was bombed in the Second World War.

He undertook National Service in 1950, and was posted to the RAF base at High Wycombe, where he started a jazz club.

[2] He married in 1958, and in 1964 started working for the London Book Centre distribution company, while writing reviews in his spare time.

He also developed his "Fred Fact" column, answering innumerable questions from readers before the coming of the internet.

After leaving the NME in 1996 he contributed to a wide range of music magazines, including Smash Hits, Vox and The Wire.