What's the Frequency, Kenneth?

"What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" is a song by the American alternative rock band R.E.M. from their 1994 album Monster. The song's title refers to an incident in New York City in 1986, when two then-unknown assailants attacked journalist Dan Rather, while repeating "Kenneth, what is the frequency?".

This article is about the 1994 song. For the origin of the phrase, see Dan Rather § "Kenneth, what is the frequency?".

"What's the Frequency, Kenneth?"
Single by R.E.M.
from the album Monster
B-side"What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" (instrumental version)
ReleasedSeptember 5, 1994
RecordedOctober 1993[1]
Genre
Length4:00
LabelWarner Bros.
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
R.E.M. singles chronology
"Find the River"
(1993)		 "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?"
(1994)		 "Bang and Blame"
(1994)
Audio sample
"What's the Frequency, Kenneth?"
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The song was the first single taken from the album, which was released three weeks later. It peaked at number 21 on the US Billboard Hot 100, number 2 in Canada, number 4 in New Zealand and number 9 on the UK Singles Chart. In Iceland it peaked at number 1 for four weeks. It was the first song to debut at number one on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.[7]

"What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" was placed on R.E.M.'s compilation albums In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988–2003 in 2003 and Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage 1982–2011 in 2011, the only track from Monster to feature on either. The song was one of the band's most-played songs at live gigs, and was played at every show on their 2008 Accelerate tour.[8] A live version was released on R.E.M. Live in 2007.

History

Background and recording

R.E.M. began work on Monster in August 1993 and "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" was realized about two months later in October. This song was written and recorded at Kingsway Studio, New Orleans, where the band also wrote and recorded "Tongue" and "Crush with Eyeliner".[1] Lead singer Michael Stipe has said in interviews that the lyrics are about the Generation X phenomenon in contemporary mass media, sung in character as an older critic whose information consists exclusively of media products.

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

Guitarist Peter Buck explained why the song slows towards its conclusion in an interview with Guitar World magazine:

The truth is, Mike [Mills, bassist] slowed down the pace and we all followed, and then I noticed he looked strange. It turned out he had appendicitis and we had to rush him to the hospital. So we never wound up redoing it.[9]

— Peter Buck

Post-release

"What's The Frequency, Kenneth?" made its first live television debut on November 12, 1994, for Saturday Night Live, recorded at NBC Studios in New York City. The set on the show opened with "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" and was followed by two other songs from the new album, Monster, "Bang and Blame" and "I Don't Sleep, I Dream".[1] The following year, on June 22, 1995, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, Dan Rather accompanied the band during a soundcheck performance of the song. The clip was shown prior to R.E.M.'s performance of "Crush with Eyeliner" on the Late Show with David Letterman the following night.

Music video

The music video was directed by Peter Care, who had previously worked with the band on music videos for "Drive" and "Man on the Moon" in 1992. It features the band playing along to the song under bright blue, red, yellow and green flashing lights. Michael Stipe appears timid behind the microphone until the first chorus, breaking into an energetic dance. Prominent in the guitar solo, Peter Buck uses Kurt Cobain's Jag-Stang that he received as a gift from Courtney Love after Cobain died; he plays it upside-down as Cobain was left-handed. Singer Stipe's newly shaven head and bassist Mike Mills's new look (long-hair and the use of Nudie suits) prominent on the 1995 Monster world tour, were given wide exposure in this video. The suit seen in the music video was owned by musician Gram Parsons.[10]

The DVD companion to In Time, entitled In View: The Best of R.E.M. 1988–2003 (featuring the promotional videos to most of the songs from In Time) included the music video to "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?".

Track listings

All songs written by Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, and Michael Stipe.

12" and CD maxi-single

  1. "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" (Radio Edit)  – 4:00
  2. "Monty Got a Raw Deal" (Live)  – 4:22
  3. "Everybody Hurts" (Live)  – 5:41
  4. "Man on the Moon" (Live)  – 5:22

7", CD single, and cassette

  1. "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?"  – 4:00
  2. "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" (Instrumental Version)  – 3:59

The live recordings of "Monty Got a Raw Deal", "Everybody Hurts" and "Man on the Moon" were recorded at the 40 Watt Club, Athens, Georgia on November 19, 1992. The performance—a benefit for Greenpeace—was recorded in a solar-powered mobile studio.

Charts

References
  1. "R.E.M. Timeline – 1992/93/94 Concert Chronology". iinet.net.au. Archived from the original on May 21, 2011.
  2. Schoof, Dustin (September 22, 2011). "Which of these is your favorite R.E.M. song?". Lehighvalleylive. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
  3. Smith, Stewart (October 8, 2014). "Sex & Trash Aesthetics: REM's Monster Revisited". The Quietus. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
  4. Ingalls, Chris (October 31, 2019). "A Shirt of Violent Green: R.E.M.'s 'Monster' Gets the Deluxe Reissue Treatment". PopMatters. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
  5. Peacock, Tim (September 27, 2020). "Monster: How R.E.M. Unleashed Their Inner Rock'n'Roll Beast". uDiscover Music. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
  6. "ALBUMS". R.E.M.Hq. Retrieved April 9, 2010.
  7. "Powter Stays Hot, Chili Peppers Sizzle On Charts". Billboard.com.
  8. "Setlist.fm tour statistics". Retrieved December 8, 2008.
  9. Garbarini, Vic. "Reconstruction Of The Fables". Guitar World. November 14, 1996.
  10. "Rec.music.rem Frequently-Asked Questions list (1 of 3)". faqs.org.
  11. "Australian-charts.com – R.E.M. – What's The Frequency, Kenneth?". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  12. "Austriancharts.at – R.E.M. – What's The Frequency, Kenneth?" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  13. "Ultratop.be – R.E.M. – What's The Frequency, Kenneth?" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  14. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 2655." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
  15. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 11 no. 40. October 1, 1994. p. 11. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  16. Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  17. "Offiziellecharts.de – R.E.M. – What's the Frequency, Kenneth?". GfK Entertainment Charts.
  18. "Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 (27.10–2.11 '94)". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). October 27, 1994. p. 16. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
  19. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – What's The Frequency, Kenneth". Irish Singles Chart.
  20. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 43, 1994" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40 Retrieved April 10, 2019.
  21. "Dutchcharts.nl – R.E.M. – What's The Frequency, Kenneth?" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  22. "Charts.nz – R.E.M. – What's The Frequency, Kenneth?". Top 40 Singles.
  23. "Norwegiancharts.com – R.E.M. – What's The Frequency, Kenneth?". VG-lista.
  24. "Notowanie nr662" (in Polish). LP3. October 21, 1994. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
  25. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
  26. "Swedishcharts.com – R.E.M. – What's The Frequency, Kenneth?". Singles Top 100.
  27. "Swisscharts.com – R.E.M. – What's The Frequency, Kenneth?". Swiss Singles Chart.
  28. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
  29. "R.E.M. Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
  30. "R.E.M. Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
  31. "R.E.M. Chart History (Dance Singles Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
  32. "R.E.M. Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
  33. "R.E.M. Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
  34. "RPM Top 100 Hit Tracks of 1994". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
  35. "Árslistinn 1994". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). January 2, 1995. p. 16. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
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