The Federal Bureau of Investigation is being sued by Micky Dolenz, the sole surviving member of the famous 1960s made-for-TV pop band The Monkees, seeking documents proving it was keeping tabs on the group.
According to the heavily redacted dossier from 1967, which Rolling Stone broke the story on first, the FBI was reportedly looking into the band for supposedly disseminating anti-Vietnam war messages during their concerts.
An unknown FBI source who attended a performance is quoted in one portion of the file as saying:
Left-wing inventions of a political character were projected on the screen throughout the concert as subliminal messages.
The fact that Mark Zaid, Dolenz’s attorney, considers himself a huge admirer of the Monkees helped spark his interest in this matter. Zaid is well known for representing the whistleblower during former president Trump’s Ukraine crisis.
Recognize that The Monkees were active at a turbulent moment in American history, Zaid advised CBSLA. “Of course, Micky still performs today, and The Monkees all continued performing until others went away, but they first came to the world’s notice about 1966 or so, when we were in Vietnam and the hippies and drug culture were starting to get large.”
Zaid claims he submitted a freedom of information request after becoming aware of the FBI file on the band, but that the request went unanswered for several months. He thus filed the case to learn all the information the FBI had about the gang.
“The Monkees event was attended by an informant, presumably an FBI agent who wanted to take their child to a concert. I believe they were in San Francisco. After the show, the informant reported back to the FBI about the anti-war protest movement. What does it reveal about the FBI’s surveillance of The Monkees, both as a group and as individuals? Furthermore, what does it reveal about the FBI’s operations in the 1960s? “said Zaid.
No other band has ever achieved what the group did in 1967 when four of its albums debuted at number one.
After hours, CBSLA contacted the Department of Justice about the case but has not yet received a response.