Micky Dolenz is best known as the drummer and vocalist of the American rock and pop band, The Monkees. It was formed in 1966 and included four members – Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith, Peter Tork and Davy Jones. What was unique about the band was that they were initially created for a TV sitcom of the same name, for which they also received a Gold Emmy, and later became a real band. The members were both actors and musicians, and are to this day respected for lending their own vocals for the TV show rather than lip-syncing. The band had also toured several times.
Recently, the last surviving member of The Monkees, Micky Dolenz, sued FBI. Yes, you read that right, and it wasn’t the other way round. Apparently, the FBI has been investigating the band for years now, and the lead singer of The Monkees didn’t like it. Here’s what happened.
The 2011 FBI Report Which Accused The Monkees Of Anti-Vietnam War Propaganda
CBS Los Angeles reports that the FBI had a file on The Monkees band. As Micky learned of this, he filed the Freedom of Information request to the FBI, but the request remained unanswered for several months. It was in 2011 when the FBI shared a public report of the band, which revealed that at least one FBI informant had attended their 1967 concert, and according to his observations, he claimed that the Monkees were influencing their audience through subtle “left-wing” anti-Vietnam war messages. The report read, “During the concert, subliminal messages were depicted on the screen which, in the opinion of [informant’s name redacted], constituted ‘left wing intervention of a political nature. These messages and pictures were flashed of riots, in Berkley, anti-U.S. messages on the war in Vietnam, racial riots in Selma, Alabama, and similar messages which had unfavorable response[s] from the audience.”
Micky Dolenz Wants To Uncover What FBI Had On Him And His Band Members
Micky’s lawyer, Mark Zaid, is assisting the singer in unraveling the entire report since the performer wants to know what all the FBI had on them. Zaid remarked, “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.” Since the FBI didn’t respond to their earlier request, Dolenz filed a lawsuit. The lawsuit states it is “designed to obtain any records the FBI created and/or possessed on the Monkees as well as its individual members (with all records concerning the deceased members processed pursuant to FOIA and with respect to Mr. Dolenz under both PA [the Privacy Act] and FOIA.”
The rise of the rock-pop, Los Angeles-based band was during a very tumultuous period in the United States. The country was in a war political state, as its troops were lined up in Vietnam. It was also the era of rising drug culture. The FBI file, which was later revealed, was heavily redacted, but what could be made of it clearly pointed out that The Monkees were allegedly spreading “anti-Vietnam war messages“. The document also claimed, “During the concert, subliminal messages were depicted on the screen, which … constituted left-wing innovations of a political nature.” Micky is currently waiting for the FBI to come clean about what all they had gathered on the pop band almost fifty-five years ago.
