The last surviving member of the Monkees is suing the FBI over a “secret dossier” he believes the company holds on him and his former bandmates.
Micky Dolenz, aged 77, the previous frontman for the famous British-American 1960s combo, filed the lawsuit through his attorney, Mark Zaid, a freedom of information specialist and music fan who advised Rolling Stone magazine it might be “fun”.
Zaid stated he met Dolenz, whose band recorded hits which include I’m a Believer, Last Train to Clarksville and Daydream Believer, through mutual friends.
According to Rolling Stone, Zaid stated he suggested to Dolenz, “it is probably fun to see if the FBI had a file on him or his former bandmates”. Shortly afterwards, Zaid discovered that such a report did exist and that a heavily redacted, seven-page snippet was released in 2011.
“That is just a form of reinforcement for me that there has been something here,” Vaid stated. “It’s not only a fishing expedition. I mean, we’re still fishing. However, we realize there’s fish in the water.”
The cover of the FBI report on the company’s website erroneously refers to “the Monkeys”.
The files provide few clues as to why the band was of interest to federal agents. It became the time of the Vietnam war, and the government was sensitive to criticism from distinguished Hollywood actors and pop musicians.
In a section marked “Additional activities denouncing the United States policy in the war in Vietnam”, nearly an entire page is blacked out. But the report does describe the Monkees as a “quite successful” band featuring “4 younger guys who get dressed as ‘beatnik types’… geared primarily to the teenage market”.
The Monkees had not been called an openly political band – they had been created for television. Still, the song Last Train to Clarksville was about a person heading for battle and not understanding if he could see his cherished ones again.
Zaid stated he submitted standard freedom of information request in June, asking to see the band’s entire FBI report and any personal files for Dolenz and his late bandmates, Davy Jones, Peter Tork and Michael Nesmith.
Zaid stated that when the company didn’t respond, he determined to press ahead with the suit.
