The Monkees’ Last Surviving Member Is Suing The FBI
You wouldn't think these two groups would be at odd.
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In December, at the age of 78, Michael Nesmith passed away from heart failure and left Micky Dolenz as the last surviving member of The Monkees. Now, the 77-year-old Dolenz has some unfinished business to clear up. The musician is bringing the Federal Bureau of Investigation to court.
As CNN reported earlier this week, Dolenz has filed suit against the FBI in the hopes of obtaining any records they have on him, any of his late individual bandmates, or the band The Monkees itself. According to his lawsuit, the musician filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the the records in June and so far he says he hasn’t received a response from the FBI. The suit states that Dolenz “has exhausted all necessary required administrative remedies with respect to his [Freedom of Information Act/Privacy Act] request,” but allegedly without the FBI holding up their side of things.
CNN says the FBI investigated The Monkees for “anti-Vietnam war activities” because of a concert at which the band flashed images of protest “pictures and messages” from the stage. Dolenz’s suit alleges he and the rest of the band were also investigated for “another matter that has been redacted.” While we don’t have any idea what that other matter is, it’s seemingly something Dolenz has no problem getting out in the open; otherwise he’d presumably tell his lawyers to ease back.
When you think of the counterculture icons of the 1960s–particularly those from the world of music–you might think of Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, or John Lennon; but it’s doubtful The Monkees will come to mind except as a joke. After all, the band was conceived not as counterculture or even as a musical venture, but as a television vehicle. But believe it or not, the FBI did conduct an investigation of The Monkees in 1967, the year after their hit sitcom The Monkees premiered. We know this because the Bureau released part of their file on the band some years ago. It’s heavily redacted–and even where it isn’t redacted there are so many handwritten notes written over the text that it may as well be–but you can go see what the FBI released online right now.
There’s been a lot of misinformation and confusion about the origins of The Monkees over the years, leading some to believe that they weren’t a real band. In fact when Dolenz, Nesmith, Peter Tork, and Davy Jones were assembled for The Monkees, they were all musicians and/or singers though the earliest recordings of their music were performed by studio musicians. Eventually, the actors got the chance to perform the songs themselves live and in recordings.
The Monkees owe a big thanks to MTV for their longevity. Their sitcom only lasted two seasons, but when the still young music channel still was a music channel, it re-broadcast the The Monkees in the mid-eighties, leading to a revival of interest in the band. Dolenz continues to make music. Last year, seven months before Michael Nesmith’s passing, Dolenz released an album of songs written by Nesmith titled Dolenz Sings Nesmith. Earlier this year he released the solo album Demoiselle.
