The Monkees’ Micky Dolenz is Suing FBI Over Surveillance Case
Micky Dolenz, best known as the vocalist and drummer for the iconic 1960s pop group The Monkees, is suing the FBI over recently released files that indicate the agency was monitoring the group.
As reported by CBS Los Angeles, Dolenz’s lawyer, Mark Zaid, filed a Freedom of Information request when he learned of the FBI file on the band. When the request went unanswered for several months, Zaid launched the lawsuit to find out precisely what the FBI had on the chart-topping group, whose sitcom The Monkees aired for two seasons on NBC in the mid-1960s.
“Some informant, probably an FBI agent who wanted to take their kid to The Monkees concert, went to The Monkees show in, I think, San Francisco, and filed a report back to the FBI about the anti-war protest movement,” Zaid said (via CBS LA). “Why was the FBI surveilling The Monkees, whether the individual members or the band, what does it say? And what does it say, larger, about the activities of the FBI during the 1960s.”
As Zaid pointed out, The Monkees’ rise in popularity came during a “very tumultuous period of time in the United States” when American troops were in Vietnam, “and the hippies are becoming big and the drug culture.”
In the file — which was first reported on by Rolling Stone — the FBI appears to be investigating the band for allegedly spreading anti-Vietnam war messages during their shows. In the heavily redacted document, claims are made that “…During the concert, subliminal messages were depicted on the screen, which … constituted left wing innovations of a political nature.”
The Monkees were formed in 1966 as part of a television sitcom by producers Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider. Alongside Dolenz, the band also included Michael Nesmith, Peter Tork, and Davy Jones. Both the TV show and the group’s music became a huge success, with them landing four No. 1 albums in 1967 alone, a record still unmatched to this day.
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