Over the weekend, I had a discussion at Gainsbourg with Ruben Mendez of Coconut Coolouts/Sonic Boom and one of that Greenwood bar’s employees about the Fugs. Ruben asked me if I had heard the rumor about one of the Fugs being a mole for the CIA.

The question seemed absurd on the surface, as the Fugs had a song called “CIA Man” (off 1966’s Virgin Fugs) that shot typical boho/hippie middle fingers at that organization and they were famous NYC counterculture rabblerousers who recorded for the über-underground ESP-Disk label. But the more I thought about the matter, the more ingenious that move seemed on the part of the Man, as the Fugs were articulate dissenters/protesters of governmental activities and persistent thorns in authority figures’ sides. In the ’60s, they probably posed something of a threat to the status quo with their ramshackle folk rock and songs advocating for dope, sex, and peace, which those doggone kids loved so much back then.

So I YouTubed the Fugs’ “CIA Man” and lo, the comments section contains this revelation from one levmyshkin (yes, all YouTube comments have been vetted for the gospel truth before they’re posted):

That's my father-in-law on the drums. What's funny is that he spent the 80s translating Russian documents for the CIA.

So if you believe this commenter, someone in the Fugs went on to work in the very organization at which the group aimed their bile (although he wasn’t employed by the CIA while in the band). My research hasn't turned up any info confirming levmyshkin's claim, but, still, funny old world… aaaand this whole exchange gives us an excuse to listen to a Fugs classic.