Judy Kurtz - Yesterday
The Monkees singer Micky Dolenz is suing the FBI in an effort to “obtain any records” the agency has on the hit band and its members.
Last surviving member of The Monkees is suing the FBI© Provided by The Hill
A lawsuit filed by Dolenz, the last surviving member of the band, noted the performer had “exhausted all necessary required administrative remedies” after submitting a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to receive the files from the FBI.
Portions of an FBI file on the “I’m a Believer” singers were released in 2011 and included references to anti-Vietnam War rhetoric and “subliminal messages” depicted on a screen at a 1967 Monkees concert that an informant claimed featured “left wing innovations of a political nature.”
The FBI was known to keep tabs on several famous faces during the 1960s and 1970s under then-Director J. Edgar Hoover, including anti-war musicians such as John Lennon and John Denver, among others.
Dolenz’s attorney, Mark Zaid, told Rolling Stone that the 77-year-old entertainer and the last surviving member of the band had originally submitted a FOIA request in June to obtain the full file from the FBI. The lawsuit was brought after the FBI failed to follow through with the FOIA request within 20 working days, as is legally required, Zaid told the music publication.
Zaid wrote on Twitter on Tuesday that he has been a Monkees fan since the early 1970s, calling it a “pleasure to be representing” Dolenz.
“Why was the FBI monitoring the band back in the late 1960s? We will find out!” Zaid said.
Gil Kaufman - Billboard
Yesterday
Micky Dolenz
Micky Dolenz
© Matthew Eisman/GI
Micky Dolenz wants the full story. The last surviving member of the 1960s-era made-for-TV band The Monkees filed a lawsuit against the FBI on Tuesday (August 30) demanding that the agency turn over all unredacted documents about his band collected during their swinging heyday.
After the agency released a heavily redacted version of their file on the band (erroneously ID’d on the title page as “The Monkeys”) in 2011, the suit notes that Dolenz filed a Freedom of Information Act request on June 14 of this year in order to get the full story. After his request was not answered in a timely manner, Dolenz’s lawyer, Mark S. Said, filed the suit against the FBI on the drummer/singer’s behalf to get access to the whole file.
“This lawsuit is designed to obtain any records the FBI created and/or possesses on the Monkees as well as its individual members,” the suit reads. “Mr. Dolenz has exhausted all necessary required administrative remedies with respect to his [Freedom Of Information Act/Privacy Act] request.” The band starred in an eponymous musical sitcom from 1966-1968 and sold more than 75 million albums thanks to such beloved hits as “Pleasant Valley Sunday,” “Daydream Believer” and “Last Train to Clarksville.”
The suit notes that Dolenz, 77, and the three deceased members of the Monkees — singer/guitarist Michael Nesmith, bassist/singer Peter Tork and singer Davy Jones — “were known to have associated with other musicians and individuals whose activities were monitored and/or investigated b the FBI, to include, but not limited to: John Winston Lennon (and the three other Beatles as well) and Jimi Hendrix.”
A portion of the document released by the FBI noted that an FBI informant attended a show on the band’s inaugural 1967 tour, describing, “subliminal messages” that were allegedly depicted on the screen, “which, in the opinion of [informant] 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 from the audience.”
At press time it was unclear what information might be included in the redacted portions of the band’s file what, if anything, it could reveal about the FBI’s surveillance of the group. A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Justice had not returned Billboard‘s request for comment at press time.
Click here to read the full article.
Micky Dolenz wants the full story. The last surviving member of the 1960s-era made-for-TV band The Monkees filed a lawsuit against the FBI on Tuesday (August 30) demanding that the agency turn over all unredacted documents about his band collected during their swinging heyday.
After the agency released a heavily redacted version of their file on the band (erroneously ID’d on the title page as “The Monkeys”) in 2011, the suit notes that Dolenz filed a Freedom of Information Act request on June 14 of this year in order to get the full story. After his request was not answered in a timely manner, Dolenz’s lawyer, Mark S. Said, filed the suit against the FBI on the drummer/singer’s behalf to get access to the whole file.
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“This lawsuit is designed to obtain any records the FBI created and/or possesses on the Monkees as well as its individual members,” the suit reads. “Mr. Dolenz has exhausted all necessary required administrative remedies with respect to his [Freedom Of Information Act/Privacy Act] request.” The band starred in an eponymous musical sitcom from 1966-1968 and sold more than 75 million albums thanks to such beloved hits as “Pleasant Valley Sunday,” “Daydream Believer” and “Last Train to Clarksville.”
The suit notes that Dolenz, 77, and the three deceased members of the Monkees — singer/guitarist Michael Nesmith, bassist/singer Peter Tork and singer Davy Jones — “were known to have associated with other musicians and individuals whose activities were monitored and/or investigated b the FBI, to include, but not limited to: John Winston Lennon (and the three other Beatles as well) and Jimi Hendrix.”
A portion of the document released by the FBI noted that an FBI informant attended a show on the band’s inaugural 1967 tour, describing, “subliminal messages” that were allegedly depicted on the screen, “which, in the opinion of [informant] 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 from the audience.”
At press time it was unclear what information might be included in the redacted portions of the band’s file what, if anything, it could reveal about the FBI’s surveillance of the group. A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Justice had not returned Billboard‘s request for comment at press time.
Click here to read the full article.
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