March 02, 2012

Subject: The "Monkeys"

Here's the FBI's Monkees file.

The contents are mostly blacked out except for this bit:

…that "The Monkees'" concert was using a device in the form of a screen set up behind the performers who played certain instruments and sang as a "combo." During the concert, subliminal messages were depicted on the screen which, in the opinion of [redacted], constituted "left wing innovations of a political nature." These messages and pictures were flashes of riots in Berkeley, anti-U.S. messages on the war in Vietnam, racial riots in Selma Alabama, and similar messages which had received unfavorable response from the audience.
You never can tell with these "beatnik types." Sounds like a heck of a show.

(via Reason's Jesse Walker.)

Posted by Dr. Frank at March 2, 2012 04:11 AM | TrackBack