Micky Dolenz Sues The FBI over their Surveillance File on The Monkees

[JamesG]

Micky Dolenz Sues The FBI over their Surveillance File on The Monkees
by Christian Holub
August 31, 2022


Micky Dolenz — the last surviving member of the iconic 1960s-era, made-for-TV pop band the Monkees — is suing the FBI over the surveillance files they collected on the band during its early years.

Dolenz is making his request under the Freedom of Information Act. One version of the FBI's file on the band is available on the agency's public website, but it is heavily redacted. Dolenz and his lawyer, Mark Zaid, want full details about the surveillance.




According to the lawsuit, the FBI confirmed receipt of Dolenz's FOIA request on June 23, but has not responded further. The lawsuit asks the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to make the files available to Dolenz "promptly."

"If the documents still exist, I fully expect that we will learn more about what prompted the FBI to target the Monkees or those around them," Zaid told The Washington Post.




The Monkees' hit song "Last Train to Clarksville" contains vague references to the Vietnam War, but nothing on the level of the antiwar sentiment expressed by The Monkees' contemporaries like John Lennon (who was definitely surveilled by the FBI as well).

Representatives for Dolenz did not immediately respond to EW's request for comment. The FBI declined to comment.

https://ew.com/music/the-monkees-mic...eillance-file/

[Dude111]

Hehe what could the monkees have done?

[AB]

Seems like a waste of resources on the FBI's part.

[Dude111]

Thats all they ever do... Waste resources!

[biffbronson]

"Makin' a livin' the old hard way..."

Taxpayers paying the bill.

[GentlemanJim]

Originally Posted by JamesG

"If the documents still exist, I fully expect that we will learn more about what prompted the FBI to target the Monkees or those around them," Zaid told The Washington Post.

The Monkees' hit song "Last Train to Clarksville" contains vague references to the Vietnam War, but nothing on the level of the antiwar sentiment expressed by The Monkees' contemporaries like John Lennon (who was definitely surveilled by the FBI as well).

Gee Commrade Dolenz,...so long as you were doing nothing wrong, then there should be nothing to worry about?

Actually I do recall at the time there was (alleged) government suspicion that the lyrics in the song "Mr Webster" were an appeal to youth to join the revolution, because the establishment was dishonest. (Gee kiddies, Mr Webster got the last laugh, so can you)

But personally I think you have to look at the bigger picture for context. There was a lot going on....IMO, the government had legitimate reason to be paranoid. The Race riots, the Summer of Love, Timothy Leary, the Weather Underground .....our universities being used as factories of dissent....people were saying that the Russians were the ones pushing drugs, with the ultimate goal of controlling our youth......lots of reasons for the government to wonder how bad things were. (threat assessment)

On top of that, the Monkees were HUGELY popular, if Davy Jones had sung "Steal your mother's diaphragm and mail it to President Johnson" I have little doubt that some folks would have done it.

But, THE REAL BIG DEAL HERE imo, was that back drop behind the band during the early concerts. A projection screen depicting controversial events, and sporting subliminal messages. Certainly could be interpreted as (potentially) planting bad ideas.

At least worth knowing more about.

(Speculation) And yanno? With the bad rap the Monkees were getting over being a manufactured band, that might have contributed to the suspicion level. What if the boys were just stooges, and Bob Rafelson was the evil puppeteer sending leftist instructions to planted minions? Look at the counter culture movies Rafelson hand a hand in: Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces....Head......the latter one alone was oddball enough to merit closer scrutiny

Guilty by association...Rafelson.....Nicholson.......Specter.......Zappa ...The Monkees definitely had friends who were on the FBI' radar



BEAR IN MIND, I'm not saying the Monkees were doing anything wrong...all I'm saying is
with the events that were going on that the time was ripe for suspicion, and they were associating with suspicion worthy people.

My guess is those provocative visual backgrounds at the concerts with subliminal embedded messaging were the tipping point, making an investigation seem worthwhile.

[GentlemanJim]

I'm confident that the FBI would have had a dossier on the Smother's Brothers too, for pretty much the same reasons

[GentlemanJim]

And, there were a couple videos where the boys had obviously been chasing rabbits...."feed your head" and all that. So, considering their "Pied Piper" like popularity, they were a sure bet to find someone's interest thrust upon them,