Secret Agent Man (song)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"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 US as Secret Agent from 1964 to 1966. In an unusual situation, due to the format of the series, the show's original British theme song, an instrumental entitled "High Wire" was actually retained as it was played over the episode credits following the "Secret Agent Man" titles.
In 1979, the song was covered by Devo on the Duty Now for the Future album with a jerky, heavily modified arrangement and significantly altered lyrics (sung by the near-monotone voice of Bob Mothersbaugh). It was a favorite of Devo fans, entering the setlist in 1977 and remaining until 1980 (and returned to the band's setlist in 2006). A Spanish version, "Hombre Secreto", recorded by The Plugz, features on the soundtrack to the film Repo Man. "Secret Agent Man" was also covered by Bruce Willis on his album "Return of Bruno". The song opened with the sounds of a car door being opened and closed, footsteps, and a single gunshot. The original Johnny Rivers version of the song was used in the film Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery as a nod to Danger Man.
In 1995 this song was played by Blues Traveler in Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, in a version which was faster than the original. In 2000, an updated version of the song was used for the opening credits of the UPN series Secret Agent Man. This led to some media coverage erroneously calling the series a remake of Danger Man/Secret Agent. This is one of the few songs that has been used for the opening credits of more than one unrelated series.
