The year 1980 was groundbreaking in many ways. The “Miracle on Ice” occurred when the U.S. defeated the Soviet Union in ice hockey, Mount St. Helens erupted on May 18th of that year, former Beatle John Lennon was shot to death outside his home in NYC, and CNN began broadcasting for the first time.
Meanwhile in Athens, Georgia, drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and vocalist Michael Stipe formed the band R.E.M. while college students at the University of Georgia. As alternative rock took hold on the charts and on the radio in the 90’s, R.E.M. were considered pioneers of the genre by influential bands like Nirvana and Pavement (Wikipedia).
Beginning with their first single, “Radio Free Europe” in 1981 through “We All Go Back to Where We Belong” in 2011, R.E.M. has released sixty-three singles, fifteen studio albums, five live albums, and fourteen compilations to date. All told, they’ve sold nearly 90 million albums and are among the best-selling artists of all time.
They’ve won 3 Grammys from their 15 total career nominations. Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007, the band amicably disbanded in 2011 to pursue solo projects.
Today’s featured track is “What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?” and is included on their ninth studio album, “Monster” (1994). Released as the album’s lead single in early September of that year, the song peaked at #21 on Billboard’s Hot 100 in the U.S., landing at #1 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart.
What’s the backstory to “Frequency”?
In October of 1986, according to Songfacts, an incident took place in New York City where CBS news anchor Dan Rather was unexpected attacked on the street by a man yelling “Kenneth, what is the frequency?” repeatedly.
Michael Stipe was enamored by the event and the song was partially inspired by that true crime interest.
It remains the premier unsolved American surrealist act of the 20th century. It’s a misunderstanding that was scarily random, media hyped and just plain bizarre.
Michael Stipe
Rather’s assailant turned out to be a man by the name of William Tager, who was arrested and convicted in the 1994 slaying of a Today Show stagehand, eventually sentenced to 25 years in prison for the murder. He was released in 2010, and noted he was at the time convinced that the media were beaming signals into his brain, and he was attempting to determine their frequency.
Michael Stipe later noted the song was an attack on the media, who overanalyze things they don’t understand.
I wrote that protagonist as a guy who’s desperately trying to understand what motivates the younger generation, 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.
Michael Stipe
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