STAN FREBERG HERE...What's The Frequency, Stanley?
Stan Freberg here. A famous mystery has apparently been solved. About 10 years ago, Dan Rather was mugged in New York...who hasn't been mugged in New York? It was significant because of what Rather claims the mugger kept asking him. After this. [:60 SPOT BREAK]
Freberg again. For 10 years, CBS News anchor Dan Rather has wondered about tthe mugger who, he says, kept asking him repeatedly, "What is the frequency, Kenneth?" When Rather insisted he was not Kenneth and didn't know what he was talking about, the man kept beating Rather.
The mugger was never caught; but now, a decade later, the New York Times has reported that Rather has said the man appears to be William Tagger - the same man who, in 1994, shot and killed an NBC stagehand outside Rockefeller Center. The man is now serving a long sentence for manslaughter, but the forensic scientist who examined Tagger, Dr. William Dietz, told Rather the man had confessed to being Rather's mugger. He sent a picture of Tagger to Rather, who "i.d.'d" him.
In both cases, "distrust of the news media" seemed to be Tagger's motivation. Hey, I'm part of the news media! If the guy ever gets out and starts to mug me, I'm gonna say, "Yeah, yeah, my name is Kenneth," and give him the frequency of this station! I'm no fool...ahem...
After the Rather mugging story, the rock group R.E.M. recorded a popular hit, "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?", a few years ago. At this time, Rather has no plans to also record the song.
Stan Freberg here.
Copyright (C)1997, Stan Freberg/Freberg, Ltd. (but not very) Distributed by Dick Brescia Associates and Radio Spirits, Inc.