Secret Agent Man (song)
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"Secret Agent Man" is a song written by P. F. Sloan and Steve Barri. The song evokes secret agents both musically (making use of a memorable guitar riff written by Chuck Day and inspired by Monty Norman's 007 theme) and through its lyrics (which describe the dangerous life of a secret agent). 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" titles. The lyric "They've given you a number and taken away your name" appears to anticipate The Prisoner, the 1967-68 follow-up series to Danger Man/Secret Agent in which this situation befalls the protagonist; It is, however, most likely a reference to the numerical code names given to such secret agents as James Bond 007.
In 1975, the song was recorded by Devo and later released in 1979 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). This Devo cover was in turn covered by the Japanese band Polysics in the 2000s. 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 The 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, recorded by Supreme Beings of Leisure, 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.
Performance artist Laurie Anderson quoted the opening lines of the song in the title track of her 1982 album Big Science. In fact she misquoted them, altering 'There's a man...' to 'Here's a man...' and 'To everyone he meets he stays a stranger' to 'Everywhere he goes he stays a stranger'.
The 1987 Exidy game "CrackShot" features the original version's opening riff (actual digitized sound) as background music for the "Police Alley" minigames.
The song was later used in an episode of Super Mario Bros. Super Show, "On Her Majesty's Sewer Service" during the fight scene. Much to the dismay and anger of fans, the song was later replaced with stock music in later airings and DVD releases.
A parody "The Roll-back Man" was used for Wal-Mart at one point.
The theme song to the cartoon Teen Titans, performed by Puffy AmiYumi, features the melody of "Secret Agent Man" -- minus the chorus -- with different lyrics appropriate to the Teen Titans.
More recently however, it was used in a Chase Card Commercial where a guy is dressed as a James Bond character protecting his credit card identity.
The song was played at the end of Bowfinger, in the film-within-a-film where Bobby Bowfinger (Steve Martin) plays a secret agent/action hero much like John Drake or James Bond, with Jiff Ramsey (Eddie Murphy) playing his partner. When they are attacked by a group of ninjas, the songs segues into a cover version of Kung Fu Fighting.
