"Secret Agent Man" is a song written by P. F. Sloan and Steve Barri. The most famous recording of the song was made by Johnny Rivers for the opening titles of the American broadcast of the British spy series Danger Man, which aired in the U.S. as Secret Agent from 1964 to 1966. Rivers's version peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #4 on the Canadian RPM chart, one of the biggest hits of his career. Numerous covers and adaptations have been recorded since then with the song becoming both a rock standard and one of Johnny Rivers's signature songs.

History

According to composer P.F. Sloan, the American television network that licensed Danger Man, CBS, solicited publishers to contribute a 15-second piece of music for the opening of the U.S. show to replace the small section of the British theme, an instrumental by Edwin Astley entitled "High Wire", which started each episode. CBS executives were worried the show might not be successful without a "hummable" theme song. Sloan wrote the song's opening guitar lick, which echoes John Barry's "James Bond Theme", and the first few lines of the song, with his songwriting partner Steve Barri contributing to the chorus. This fragment was recorded as a demo by Sloan and Barri, submitted to CBS, and picked as the show theme, which led to Sloan and Barri writing a full-length version of the song. The original demo of the song used the "Danger Man" title, as shown by a demo of the song sung by Sloan. When the show's American title was changed, the lyrics were changed to match. The full version of "High Wire", which plays over the episode credits following the "Secret Agent" titles, was retained. In 1965, surf rock band The Challengers recorded a version for their album The Man From U.N.C.L.E. featuring vocal harmonies, horns, and vibraphone. This would be the first commercial release of the song, though it was never released as a single and consequently did not garner much attention. Sloan and Barri's publisher/producer, Lou Adler, also produced and managed Johnny Rivers, so Rivers was chosen to add the vocals for the TV show. Rivers claimed to have written the guitar intro, although it is clearly heard on Sloan's demo version. Chuck Day, the father of Cass Elliott's daughter, also claims to have written the riff. Rivers's original recording was merely the show theme, with one verse and one chorus. Later, after the song gained in popularity, Rivers recorded it live, with two new verses and the chorus repeated twice more. The live version was recorded in 1966 at the Whisky a Go Go and released with studio overdubs supervised by Adler. The lyric "they've given you a number and taken away your name" refers to the numerical code names given to secret agents, as in "007" for James Bond, although it also unintentionally foreshadows Danger Man star Patrick McGoohan's subsequent series The Prisoner, in which the main character is known only as "Number Six".

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Technical

Other versions

The Ventures

Surf rock band the Ventures did an instrumental version for their 1966 album, Play the Batman Theme, which featured several instrumental covers of television themes. Released as the band's first single of 1966, it reached #54 in the US and #82 in Canada, and was on the charts concurrently with the Rivers version.

Devo

New wave band Devo recorded a version of "Secret Agent Man" in 1974, which was featured in their 1976 short film The Truth About De-Evolution. They re-recorded the song in 1979 for their second studio album, Duty Now for the Future, with a heavily modified arrangement and significantly altered lyrics sung by guitarist Bob Mothersbaugh.

Bruce Willis

Bruce Willis recorded a version for his 1987 album The Return of Bruno which rose to #43 on the UK charts. Willis' version features introductory stock sounds and a new subtitle, "James Bond Is Back".

Covers and adaptations