Micky Dolenz Suing FBI Over Monkees Documents

The Monkees singer and drummer Micky Dolenz files a lawsuit against the FBI over the past documents regarding the band.

Going back to 1967, an FBI informant attended one of the Monkees’ concerts and took notes on the performance. Fast forward to 10 years, some of the parts of the archived file was publicly released. The documents in the FBI file reads (which at first incorrectly spells the name of the band as “The Monkeys.”):

“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, Ala., and similar messages which had unfavorable response[s] from the audience.”

Dolenz is the only remaining member of the Monkees. He previously attempted to have the rest of the files released via Freedom of Information Act request, which was filed in June, but has not been successful. Now, Dolenz filed a new lawsuit with the assistance of attorney Mark S. Zaid, “is designed to obtain any records the FBI created and/or possesses on the Monkees as well as its individual members.” Zaid noted he is a fan of the band, he told Rolling Stone:

“My babysitter, who was about 10 years older than me, gave me her collection of Monkees albums in 1975 when I was just a little kid.

“That turned me into a big fan, and I went to see their initial reunion tour in 1986. I’ve seen them about eight times after that, and I even got to meet Davy Jones right before he died.”

Zaid was the one who suggested to Dolenz that it may be interesting to see if the FBI had a file on the Monkees. Over the years, various artists have been investigated, including John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix and Elvis Presley, and as one of the most popular bands of the late 1960s, the Monkees with an interest to the government as a potential source of counterculture activity. Zaid said:

“The Monkees reflected, especially in their later years with projects like [their 1968 movie] Head, a counterculture from what institutional authority was at the time.

“And [J. Edgar] Hoover’s FBI, in the ’60s in particular, was infamous for monitoring the counterculture, whether they committed unlawful actions or not.”

According to Zaid, a judge will be assigned to the case shortly. He noted:

“Theoretically, anything could be in those files, though.

“We have no idea what records even exist. It could be almost nothing. But we’ll see soon enough.”