The young shaggy-haired rockers with the Iranian band The Yellow Dogs provided the feds with a fascinating inside look at Tehran’s taboo underground music scene as part of their 2009 bid for US visas.
The bandmates, interviewed at the US consul in Istanbul that December, revealed how one member was once detained for two weeks on official charges of “Satan worship’’ over their music.
They described how the cops routinely clamped down on the group and other supposedly radical musicians for “style and clothing immoralities,’’ too — with one band member forced to cut off his “afro-style hair.”
The police refused to give back his driver’s license until he did, according to the musicians, whose plight was detailed in a now-declassified cable to the State Department and released by WikiLeaks.
The cable — titled, “IRAN/CULTURE: SO YOU WANT TO BE A ROCK AND ROLL STAR” — refers to the band members as “The Ayatollahs of Rock and Rolla.’’
The musicians were asked about the political scene in their repressive country and whether the majority of Iranians are happy with the situation.
One member was quoted as saying, “Many [people] have never left Iran or even their own province; they never used a computer, never watched a foreign film, and never heard of the Beatles.”
In conclusion, the memo stated, “These musicians — astute, well-informed, and resourceful 20-somethings — offered up an insightful glimpse into a vibrant but mostly hidden sub-culture in Iran.
“Their views reinforced the impression that Iranian society spans a far broader and more complex spectrum than many outside observers realize, and underscored the possibility that the regime — though radicalizing — remains calculating and sensible enough not to pick unnecessary fights on social issues, at least while it is engaged so desperately in trying to counter more immediate political threats.’’
Two of the four band members and another musician pal were killed in their Brooklyn apartment Monday by a scorned bassist.