Radio Kaleidoscope

Radio Kaleidoscope first began transmission from Essex in 1967, broadcasting on 223 metres MW using home-built equipment. It was the brainchild of Steve T and Tony Mendoza, better known on-air as the “Jolly Orange” and “DD”, and was run from Steve's family home in Benfleet, as well as various other locations around Essex. Broadcasting music via a mixture of live and pre-recorded material, the station aimed to compensate for the loss in the free choice of music caused by the closure of the main pirate radio stations – the only music radio station of the time being BBC Light, the forerunner to Radio 1. As part of its weekly transmissions, Kaleidoscope used to run phone-ins using different telephone boxes in the local area, and it was during these that one of these that the team first came in contact with Roland “Buster” Pearson, who would become a vital link in the station's operations in the following years.

Kaleidoscope's regular broadcasts soon caught the attention of the GPO, and Steve's sister opened the door one morning to two operatives from Southend's Radio Tracking Service Department holding a portable radio tuned to the radio station's frequency. She refused them entry, however, saying Steve's parents were not home, and giving Steve ample time to dismantle his equipment, hide the transmitter in the loft and lower the other equipment onto his neighbour's oil tank. Although they found the transmitter, the GPO turned a blind eye and acted favourably, merely issuing a written warning, rather than imposing a hefty fine and confiscating all the equipment.

Undeterred by the raid, Radio Kaleidoscope carried on broadcasting at weekends and bank holidays into late 1967, when Steve began enquiring about driving lessons at the Benfleet School of Motoring. It was here that he met John Langston and his partner Maggie, and it was when John's driving school began receiving free plugs on Kaleidoscope between songs that John guessed Steve's involvement in pirate radio. He confided that he was running regular fishing boat trips from Leigh-on-Sea out to Radio Caroline to ferry DJs, supplies and equipment across from the mainland, and asked Steve if he would be willing to construct equipment that Caroline was struggling to obtain. Steve readily agreed, and, after a few visits to Bill Flemming's Radio Constructor Centre and Shoffron's Army Surplus shop, Radio Caroline began receiving its new parts.

John introduced Steve and the Kaleidoscope team to other key figures from the local pirate radio scene, both DJs from the offshore radio stations who often stayed at John's house whilst they were on the mainland, and other contacts who provided invaluable information and services to the free radio network. One of these people was “GY”, working for the GPO in Southend, who would regularly pass on information and advanced warning on the GPO Radio Tracking Service movements to that targeted pirate stations.