The insane true crime backstory behind R.E.M’s ‘What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?’
The oddities of pop culture were never far away from the oeuvre of R.E.M, and it doesn’t get much odder than ‘What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?’ from their 1994 album Monster. It’s catchy by virtue of the band behind it, but that poppy nature is bellied by the paranoia of the lyrics, and it gets even darker when you delve into where they came from.
So, the true crime originated in the fancy Upper East side of New York City, where beloved news anchor Dan Rather had been enjoying a night out in the swanky joints near the CBS building. Rather had earned his stripes as a Texan reporter who saw his career skyrocket after he masterfully reported live from the scene in Dallas following the assassination of President John F Kennedy. So, in 1986, he reached a rather esteemed position in the news world.
However, as he made his way home, strolling up Park Avenue, he was suddenly assaulted by a man with a second apparently in pursuit. Rather staggered on forth, repeatedly being punched and kicked by the assailant. Peculiarly, as the attackers followed him along, the blows were interspersed by the demanding question: “What’s the frequency, Kenneth?” Naturally, Dan had no idea what they meant by this, but there was an odd insistence and desperation to their plea.
Eventually, Rather managed to stagger into an apartment block where building security was able to intervene and chase off the man. The ensuing investigation failed to catch the men responsible, but many were gripped by the odious nature of their repeated remark. While Rather insisted it was just a mugging that he managed to swerve, others thought something more must be at play.
The strange nature of the case set in motion a series of conspiracy theories that were murmured around the Park Avenue area. The first theory to arise was that there was a Columbia University professor in the area named Kenneth who was trying to hack into Russian TV frequencies. The dressed-down Rather was mistaken for this wily academic and set about by thugs either trying to hack into themselves or Russian spies who were onto him. Naturally, all these madcap theories went unproven.
Then, in 1994, a man named William Tager was arrested for killing an NBC technician who had attempted to stop his break into the Today Show. When the deranged Tager was subsequently arrested, he informed a psychologist that he had also been behind the infamous unsolved “What’s the frequency, Kenneth?” attack. The reasoning he offered was that there was a chip in his brain, and media companies were trying to beam messages into his addled mind. He believed that there was a set frequency that would turn off this bombardment, and he figured notable news anchors would know it; he could then extract the info from them and then return to a normal life.
Strangely, the release of R.E.M’s track dabbled in this debacle, and the media paranoia was released at pretty much the exact same time as the Tager case was cracked despite the track being written in October prior. As Michael Stipe explains, it was merely serendipitous that the theme he tied to the classic line was similar. “I wrote that protagonist as a guy who’s desperately trying to understand what motivates the younger generation,” he says, “Who has gone to great lengths to try and figure them out, and at the end of the song it’s completely fucking bogus. He got nowhere.” And that’s delivered with trademark catchiness.
