Jump to content

What's the Frequency, Kenneth?

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 5 albert square (talk | contribs) at 13:58, 14 November 2010 (Reverted edits by 86.10.191.194 to last revision by (HG)). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

"What's the Frequency, Kenneth?"
Song
B-side"What's The Frequency, Kenneth? (Instrumental Version)"

"What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" is a song by the American alternative rock group R.E.M. from their 1994 album Monster. It was the first single taken from the album, released three weeks later. It peaked at number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at number 9 on the UK Singles Chart. By its success and the band's like for the song, it was placed on R.E.M.'s Warner Bros. Records 'best of' compilation album In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988–2003 in 2003 and was the only track from Monster to feature on the compilation.

"What's the Frequency, Kenneth?' is notable for being the first song in history to debut at number one on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.

The song is one of the band's most-played songs at live gigs, and was played at every show of their 2008 Accelerate tour.[3] A live recording features it as the opening track to the encore (disc two) of R.E.M. Live.

History

Background and recording

R.E.M. began work on Monster in August 1993 and "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" came about two months later in October 1993. This song was written and recorded at Kingsway Studio, New Orleans, where the band also wrote and recorded "Tongue" and "Crush with Eyeliner".[1] In 1994, the year of Monster's release, and the year of the "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" single release, lead singer Michael Stipe said about the song:

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.

The title of the song is not original to the band, which guitarist Peter Buck explains in the liner notes to In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988–2003. It refers to an incident in New York City in 1986, where news anchor Dan Rather was the victim of an unprovoked attack by one or two assailants who, between beatings, would ask, "what's the frequency, Kenneth?"[5] (although the phrase Dan Rather says he actually heard was, "Kenneth, what is the frequency?"). One of the assailants has been since identified as William Tager, who attacked Rather because he thought the media had taken control of him.

Although not obviously audible, the song slows down slightly towards the end (from an original tempo of 96 BPM down to 94 BPM) as bassist Mike Mills was in severe pain and slowed his playing. Mills was taken to the hospital and it was discovered he had appendicitis, which disrupted parts of the 1995 Monster tour (resulting in dates between 10 July, 1995 and 20 July, 1995 to be cancelled[6]). R.E.M. never got around to re-recording the song.

Post release

"What's The Frequency, Kenneth?" made its first live television debut on 12 November 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 22 June 1995, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, Dan Rather accompanied the band during a sound check 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.

Radio edit

A 'radio edit' version of the song was mixed and marketed (through mainly promotional release) due to use of the phrase "don’t fuck with me" in the original album recording. The 12" and maxi-single releases of the single both feature the radio edit, whereas the 7", CD single and cassette release of the single feature the uncensored album version. The version of the song found on the British chart hits compilation album Now That's What I Call Music! 29 from 1994 also featured the radio edit. The version released on the 2003 best of album was the original uncensored album version.

Music video

The music video, directed by Peter Care (who directed some videos for songs off R.E.M.'s previous album and much of the promotional videos for the Monster tour of 1995), features the band playing along to the song under bright blue, red and yellow flashing lights. Michael Stipe appears timid behind the microphone until the first chorus, breaking into an energetic dance. In the video, 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 and plays it upside-down as Cobain was left-handed. Bassist Mike Mills' new look (long-hair and the use of Nudie suits) prominent in the 1995 Monster world tour, was first seen in this promotional video. The one seen in the music video was in fact owned by musician Gram Parsons.[7]

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 on In Time) featured the music video to "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?".

Track listing

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.

Chart positions

Year Single Chart Peak Position
1994 "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales 24[8]
1994 "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks 2[8]
1994 "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" Billboard Modern Rock Tracks 1[8]
1994 "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" Billboard Hot 100 21[8]
1994 "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" Billboard Hot 100 Airplay 14[8]
1994 "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" UK Singles Chart 9[9]
1994 "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" Billboard Top 40 Mainstream 10[8]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c remtimeline.com
  2. ^ "ALBUMS". R.E.M.Hq. Retrieved 2010-04-09.
  3. ^ "Setlist.fm tour statistics". Retrieved 2008-12-08.
  4. ^ "rem-fan.com". rem-fan.com. Retrieved 2010-04-09.
  5. ^ Liner notes to In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988–2003
  6. ^ remtimeline.com
  7. ^ R.E.M. FAQ [Part 1]
  8. ^ a b c d e f "allmusic (Monster > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles)". Retrieved 2006-03-07.
  9. ^ "UK Top 40 Hit Database". Retrieved 2008-05-29.
Preceded by Billboard Modern Rock Tracks number-one single
September 24, 1994 - October 22, 1994
Succeeded by