R.E.M.’s 1994 album, Monster, marked a deliberate shift towards a harder rock sound, and it gifted us with the iconic track, “What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?”. For many, the song is a quintessential 90s anthem, but the story behind its unusual title is far more intriguing and rooted in a bizarre real-life event. Dive in to uncover the strange origins of this enduring hit and the dark twist that connects it to a chilling crime.
The Dan Rather Attack: A Bizarre Encounter
To understand “What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?”, we need to rewind to 1986 and focus on a perplexing incident involving veteran CBS Evening News anchor, Dan Rather. Late one evening, as Rather walked towards his Manhattan apartment, he was assaulted by two men on Park Avenue. Inexplicably, during the attack, one of the assailants repeatedly questioned him, “Kenneth, what is the frequency?”.
Rather himself was bewildered by the assault. In his own words at the time, “I got mugged. Who understands these things? I didn’t and I don’t now. I didn’t make a lot of it at the time and I don’t now. I wish I knew who did it and why, but I have no idea.” The sheer oddity of the question led to widespread skepticism, with some even doubting the veracity of Rather’s account. However, the story was corroborated by witnesses – a doorman and a building supervisor from a nearby building rushed to Rather’s aid and confirmed the strange details of the attack. The phrase, “What’s the frequency, Kenneth?”, became a peculiar piece of pop culture trivia.
R.E.M. and the Song’s Inspiration
Fast forward to 1994, and R.E.M. released Monster, featuring “What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?”. The song, with its distorted guitars and introspective lyrics, captured a sense of generational disconnect, ironically narrated from an older perspective grappling with understanding younger generations, or “Generation X”. The band, known for their enigmatic lyrics, directly borrowed the bizarre question from the Dan Rather incident for the song’s title, embracing its inherent strangeness and cultural resonance.
The connection between the song and the attack wasn’t lost on Dan Rather. Showing a good sense of humor, he even joined R.E.M. on The Late Show with David Letterman to perform the song in a comedic skit, further cementing the link between the real-life event and the band’s creative inspiration.
A Darker Twist: Linking to a Tragic Crime
The story behind “What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?” takes a darker turn when we consider the case of William Tager. In 1994, the same year R.E.M. released their hit song, Tager was arrested for the murder of Campbell Montgomery, a stagehand at The Today Show. Tager’s motive was chillingly similar to the question posed to Dan Rather years prior. He claimed he was trying to find the “frequency” that NBC was using to beam signals into his brain.
While William Tager was never formally charged with the attack on Dan Rather, then-New York District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau stated that their investigation had indeed established Tager as the assailant in the Rather case. This revelation cast a disturbing shadow over the already strange origins of the song title, linking it to not just a bizarre attack, but also a fatal act of violence driven by similar delusions. Tager was eventually paroled in 2010 after serving time for Montgomery’s killing.
The Enduring Mystery of “What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?”
“What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?” remains more than just a catchy song title. It’s a cultural touchstone that encapsulates a strange moment in pop culture history, born from an inexplicable attack and later resonating with a darker, more tragic event. The song’s title, pulled directly from the bizarre question posed to Dan Rather, continues to intrigue and remind us of the unsettling and often unpredictable nature of real-life events that can inspire art and enter the cultural lexicon.
