Borderline front man John Caswell (left) pictured at The Crypt in Shrewsbury
in the early 70's. On the right is another Borderline founder member Hugh McLean

Borderline Productions started life in a side room in a pub in Muxton (now The White House Hotel) in the late 60's when John Caswell and Hugh McLean had the idea of playing the music they liked to an audience. In those days they imported American Blues, Rock and Underground albums from bands like Grateful Dead, The Doors and Captain Beefheart that weren't readily available, and also collected albums from British bands such as John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Chicken Shack, The Groundhogs and many others.

For the first few gigs they had a record player, augmented by an old radio speaker. Club nights were informal, the atmosphere was friendly, people came along to enjoy the music and the mix seemed to work quite well. The guys got a scene going and quickly attracted a regular following.

After a while it developed into promoting Local bands, money collected was used to pay the band and any additional takings were used to improve the Club (as they still are). Natural progression saw Borderline move on to promoting National and International bands, such as Thin Lizzy, Hawkwind, Mae Blitz, Man, UFO, The Boomtown Rats, Supertramp and many others.

By this time the club was at its strongest, using The Town House in Wellington as a regular venue and attracting crowds in excess of 500 people for some bands. John and Hugh, now supported by Chris Copeland, Nigel Haseley and Paul Barrett, were by now running a successful set-up and were in great demand, promoting bands, running discos and comparing for national bands at venues across the Midlands. 

Eventually, the guys were offered a contract to link up to a main London promoter, which meant making a decision to either go full-time or stay part-time and keep their existing jobs. Family commitments meant that there was only one decision to be made and the club continued to be a hobby for some time to come.

By the late 70's with the promotion of punk bands, although the music was excellent, there came an increasing tension and from time to time this would spill over into a bit of "rough and tumble". This detracted from the enjoyment that the guys derived from all the hard work and eventually Borderline closed it's doors.

It is worth talking to John about this period as he has many stories to tell. For example:

• The week before they hit No 1 in the UK singles charts Thin Lizzy charged £20.00 for a gig at Wellington's Town House with tickets on sale at 35p each and when John etc. arrived to set up there was a queue stretching from the doors of the Town House, all the way round the Parade car park.

• The first mainland gig played by The Boomtown Rats was at the Town House, promoted by Borderline.

• Hugh McLean wrote and published books on American Blues and Rock under the Borderline name.

The Boomtown Rats at The Town House, Wellington in the early 70’s

This current Borderline set-up came about following a conversation between Stuart Harding, a member of local band Gorilla in the 70's and Graham Stelmach. Stuart, who  was reforming local band Sweetwater commented that Wellington lacked any live music venues and Stelly set about looking for one.

He approached the Haygate in Wellington and landlord John Braddick was happy to provide a room free of charge one night a week. A subsequent conversation with John revealed that his old enthusiasm to play music for a live audience was still very much alive and the two enlisted help from Paul Barrett to get started.

 It's true to say that without John's support and the support of the rest of the staff at the Haygate Borderline would never have got off the ground again and on 30th August 2000 Borderline did it's first live gig in 25 years.

In April 2002 the Haygate closed its doors and Borderline moved to Destiny Nightclub/The Station Hotel in Wellington, where we were well supported by Kad Zaman for more than a year. However, The Haygate re-opened in May 2003 and following a conversation with the new owners Tina and Ricahrd, the club returned to The Haygate and we're still there today.

Our current line up is:

John Caswell (DJ) e-mail: john@borderlineclub.co.uk 

Graham Stelmach (Promoter)  e-mail: graham@borderlineclub.co.uk 

Paul Barrett (Music librarian and expert) e-mail paul@borderlineclub.co.uk  

Where are they now?

High McLean     -   Now living in Colchester (John and Paul keep in regular contact)

Nigel Haseley    -   Still living locally and a regular visitor to the club.

Chris Copeland -   Now living in Andover and working with EDS Ltd. Still a DJ at Beepy's in Frimley Green, Surrey 

                                www.boogaloopromotions.com/