"Secret Agent Man" is a song written by P. F. Sloan and

Steve Barri Steve Barri (born Steven Barry Lipkin in Brooklyn, New York on February 23, 1942) is an American songwriter and record producer. Career Early in his career, Barri was a staff writer with Dunhill Records. He produced such huge hits as "Dizzy" b ...

. The most famous recording of the song was made by

Johnny Rivers Johnny Rivers (born John Henry Ramistella; November 7, 1942) is an American musician. His repertoire includes pop, folk, blues, and old-time rock 'n' roll. Rivers charted during the 1960s and 1970s but remains best known for a string of hit sing ...

for the opening titles of the American broadcast of the British spy series ''

Danger Man ''Danger Man'' (retitled ''Secret Agent'' in the United States for the revived series, and ''Destination Danger'' and ''John Drake'' in other overseas markets) is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again b ...

'', 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 Edwin Thomas "Ted" Astley (12 April 1922 – 19 May 1998) was a British composer. His best known works are British television themes and scores, most notably the main themes for ''The Saint'', ''Danger Man'' and '' The Baron''. He also successfu ...

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 guitar

lick Lick may refer to: * Licking, the action of passing the tongue over a surface Places * Lick (crater), a crater on the Moon named after James Lick * 1951 Lick, an asteroid named after James Lick * Lick Township, Jackson County, Ohio, United State ...

and the first few lines of the song, with Barri (Sloan's songwriting partner) contributing to the chorus. This fragment was recorded as a demo by Sloan and Barri, submitted to CBS, and, to Sloan's surprise, 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 the surviving demo of the song, which Sloan sang. When the show's title was changed, the lyrics were also changed. 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.'' that features vocal harmonies, horns, and

vibraphone The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist, ...

. This would be the first commercial release of the song, though it was never released as a single and consequently didn't garner much attention. Sloan and Barri's publisher/producer,

Lou Adler Lester Louis Adler (born December 13, 1933) is an American record and film producer and the co-owner of the Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood, California. Adler has produced and developed a number of iconic musical artists, including The Grass Ro ...

, also produced and managed Johnny Rivers, so Rivers was chosen to add the vocals for the TV show. Rivers claimed he came up with the opening guitar riff that was inspired by the "

James Bond Theme The "James Bond Theme" is the main signature theme music of the James Bond films and has featured in every Eon Productions#James Bond series, Eon Productions Bond film since ''Dr. No (film), Dr. No'', released in 1962. Composed by Monty Norman ...

", although the lick is clearly heard on Sloan's demo version. Chuck Day, the father of Mama Cass' daughter, also claims to have come up with the opening of Secret Agent Man. 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 more verses, and the chorus repeated twice more. The live version was recorded in 1966 at the

Whisky a Go Go The Whisky a Go Go (informally nicknamed "the Whisky") is a historic nightclub in West Hollywood, California, United States. It is located at 8901 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip, corner North Clark Street, opposite North San Vicente Boul ...

, but not released until after a few studio production touch-ups were done by Adler shortly after. The song evokes secret agents both musically (making use of a memorable guitar riff) and through its lyrics (which describe the dangerous life of a secret agent). The lyric; "they've given you a number and taken away your name" referred to the numerical code names given to secret agents, as in "007" for

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 19 ...

, although it also acts as the (unintentional) setup to the "continuation" of ''Danger Man'', the cult classic ''

The Prisoner ''The Prisoner'' is a 1967 British television series about an unnamed British intelligence agent who is abducted and imprisoned in a mysterious coastal village, where his captors designate him as Number Six and try to find out why he abruptl ...

''.

Chart

Personnel

Musicians

* Johnny Rivers –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or witho ...

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

* Chuck Day –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and s ...

, guitar *

Mickey Jones Mickey Jones (June 10, 1941 – February 7, 2018) was an American musician and actor. He played drums with acts such as Trini Lopez and Bob Dylan, with whom he played on his 1966 world tour. He became a founding member of The First Edition ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

Larry Knechtel Lawrence William Knechtel (August 4, 1940 – August 20, 2009) was an American keyboard player and bassist who was a member of the Wrecking Crew, a collection of Los Angeles-based session musicians who worked with such renowned artists as Simon ...

– organ *

Joe Osborn Joseph Osborn (August 28, 1937 – December 14, 2018producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

* Bones Howe –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

Other versions

The Ventures

Surf rock band

the Ventures The Ventures are an American instrumental rock band formed in Tacoma, Washington, in 1958, by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle. The band, which was a quartet for most of its existence, helped to popularize the electric guitar across the world during the ...

did an instrumental version for their 1966 album, '' Play the Batman Theme'', which featured a few instrumental covers of themes from spy series. Released as the band's first single of 1966, it went to #54 in the US and #82 in Canada, and was on the charts concurrently with the Rivers version.

Devo

In 1974, the song was recorded by

Devo Devo (, originally ) is an American rock band from Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau ...

and again in 1979 on the '' Duty Now for the Future'' album with a jerky, heavily modified arrangement and significantly altered lyrics (sung by guitarist Bob Mothersbaugh). The 1974 recording was featured as a

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devi ...

in Devo's independent short film, '' In The Beginning Was The End: The Truth About De-Evolution''.

Bruce Willis

Bruce Willis Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is a retired American actor. He achieved fame with a leading role on the comedy-drama series '' Moonlighting'' (1985–1989) and appeared in over a hundred films, gaining recognition as an action hero ...

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

Mel Tormé Melvin Howard Tormé (September 13, 1925 – June 5, 1999), nicknamed "The Velvet Fog", was an American musician, singer, composer, arranger, drummer, actor, and author. He composed the music for " The Christmas Song" ("Chestnuts Roasting on an ...

recorded a cover in 1966, the same year Rivers released the song, which appears on his album '' Right Now!'' * Quebecois band Les Classels recorded a

French-language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in No ...

version entitled "''Agent de liaison''" in 1966. It appears on their album ''Et Maintenant...'' of the same year. * Finnish singer Danny recorded a Finnish-language version entitled "''Vaaksa vaaraa vain''," also in 1966, which appears on his record '' Se olla voi toisinkin päin'' of the same year. * Jazz legend

Art Blakey Arthur Blakey (October 11, 1919 – October 16, 1990) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He was also known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina after he converted to Islam for a short time in the late 1940s. Blakey made a name for himself in the ...

did an instrumental

soul jazz Soul jazz or funky jazz is a subgenre of jazz that incorporates strong influences from hard bop, blues, soul, gospel and rhythm and blues. Soul jazz is often characterized by organ trios featuring the Hammond organ and small combos including t ...

take on "Secret Agent Man" for his 1967 album '' Hold On, I'm Coming''. * In 1978, Detroit-area punk-styled band Cinecyde recorded a version for their ''Black Vinyl Threat'' EP on Tremor Records, a recording later collected on their CD ''You Live a Lie You're Gonna Die''. * A

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: ** Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Ca ...

version, "''Hombre Secreto''", recorded by The Plugz, is on the soundtrack to the film '' Repo Man'' (1984). * Surf punk pioneers

Agent Orange Agent Orange is a chemical herbicide and defoliant, one of the "tactical use" Rainbow Herbicides. It was used by the United States Armed Forces, U.S. military as part of its herbicidal warfare program, Operation Ranch Hand, during the Vietnam ...

recorded a version for their 1984 ''When You Least Expect It'' EP. They released "Secret Agent Man" again in 1986 as a

double A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

with "Shakin All Over." * Blotto recorded a live version of the song in the mid-1980s, which was eventually released on their ''Then More Than Ever'' compilation album in 1999. * Punk rockers The Pagans recorded at least three live versions over the years, which appear on their live albums ''Pirate's Cove 9/24/79'' and ''Live Road Kill'' as well as on the B-side of the "Dead End America" 7". * New York heavy metal ban
Hittman
recorded the song on their self-titled album released on the German Steamhammer label, 1988. * Hank Williams Jr. included a version originally recorded for his album '' Montana Cafe'' on the 1992 compilation ''

The Bocephus Box The Bocephus Box is a box set of songs recorded by country music artist Hank Williams, Jr. Produced by Jimmy Guterman, it was originally released in 1992 by Capricorn Records, and re-released in 2000 by Curb Records, with a slightly different tra ...

.'' * Finnish singer Tony Montana did his own version of "''Vaaksa vaaraa vain''" for his 1994 album ''Vaaksa vaaraa''. *

Blues Traveler Blues Traveler (formerly known as "The Establishment" or "The Black Cat Jam" or "The Establishment Blues Band") is an American rock band that formed in Princeton, New Jersey in 1987. They are known for extensive use of segues in live performanc ...

recorded a version of the song for the soundtrack of the 1995 film '' Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls''. * Vicious Delite included a cover on their self-titled and only record in 1995. * The song was also recorded by The Toasters and included on the band's 1996 album '' Hard Band for Dead''. *

The Dickies The Dickies are an American punk rock band formed in the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles, in 1977. One of the longest tenured punk rock bands, they have been in continuous existence for over 40 years. They have consistently balanced catchy me ...

recorded a version for the 1997 album ''Show and Tell: A Stormy Remembrance of TV Theme Songs'', a compilation of TV theme covers by various

pop-punk Pop punk (or punk pop) is a rock music genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop. It is defined for its emphasis on classic pop songcraft, as well as adolescent and anti- suburbia themes, and is distinguished from other pu ...

artists. * The band Psychotic Aztecs, composed of former members of The Plugz and Oingo Boingo, recorded a Spanish version as "''Agente Secreto''" on their 1998 album ''Santa Sangre''. * Japanese band Polysics did a version for their 1999 ''Plus Chicker'' EP. * In 2000, a

Japanese-language is spoken natively by about 128 million people, primarily by Japanese people and primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language. Japanese belongs to the Japonic or Japanese- Ryukyuan language family. There have been ma ...

version was used as the theme-song for a TV drama called ''Heisei Meoto Jawan Dokechi no Hanamichi'' (Japanese:平成夫婦茶碗〜ドケチの花道〜). A one-off group called "Secret Agent", which included Noriyuki Higashiyama,

Ryo Nishikido is a Japanese singer and actor. He was formerly under the management of Johnny & Associates as a member of Japanese boy bands Kanjani Eight and News. His first solo album was released in December 2019. Biography Ryo Nishikido was born in Hyo ...

and others, was put together by

Johnny's Juniors is a Japanese talent agency, formed by Johnny Kitagawa in 1962, which trains and promotes groups of male entertainers known as . History 1962–1989 In 1962, Kitagawa launched his first group, Johnnys. In its early days, Kitagawa's agency rente ...

talent agency to record the song. *

Da Vinci's Notebook Da Vinci's Notebook (or simply DVN) was a comedic a cappella singing group. Former Artists-in-Residence at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, they performed specials on Comedy Central and PBS, and spent time as the "house band" ...

recorded a parody titled "Secret Asian Man" on their 2000 album ''The Life and Times of Mike Fanning''. * Heavy metal band Cirith Ungol included the song on their 2001 rare tracks compilation, ''

Servants of Chaos ''Servants of Chaos'' is a compilation album by American heavy metal band Cirith Ungol, released under Metal Blade Records on September 5, 2001. The album was released during the band's hiatus (which lasted from 1992–2016), and contains conten ...

''. * The song has been recorded by Rachael MacFarlane on her 2012 debut album, ''

Hayley Sings ''Hayley Sings'' is the debut album by Rachael MacFarlane, younger sister of ''Family Guy'' creator Seth MacFarlane. Produced by veteran producer Allen Sviridoff, the album was released on September 25, 2012. The album's title is an homage to Mac ...

''.

References

{{Authority control Television drama theme songs 1964 songs 1966 singles Imperial Records singles Warner Records singles Motown singles Song recordings produced by Lou Adler Johnny Rivers songs Devo songs Songs about spies Songs written by P. F. Sloan Songs written by Steve Barri Song recordings produced by Ken Scott Songs written for films Songs from animated series James Bond parodies