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 USA as Secret Agent from 1964 to 1966
Numerous covers and adaptations have been recorded since with the song becoming both a rock standard and one of Johnny Rivers's signature songs. 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 US 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, submitted to CBS and picked as the show theme, which led to Sloan and Barri writing a full-length version of the song. The series featured Patrick McGoohan as secret agent John Drake and was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again between 1964 and 1968. Like James Bond, the main character is a globetrotting spy who works at first for NATO, in series one, and then for the fictional British intelligence service M9 for the remainder of the show's run. Like Bond, Drake cleverly extricates himself from life- threatening situations, albeit with gadgetry which is less fantastic than Bond's, and introduces himself as "Drake...John Drake.”
Philip Gary "Flip" Sloan (September 1945 – November 2015) known professionally as P. F. Sloan, was an American singer and songwriter. During the mid-1960s, he wrote, performed, and produced many Billboard Top 20 hits for artists such as the Searchers, Herman's Hermits, Johnny Rivers, the Turtles, and the Mamas and the Papas. Many of his songs were written in collaboration with Steve Barri.
Steve Barri (born February 1942, New York City) is an American songwriter and record producer. Early in his career, Barri was a staff writer with Dunhill Records. He produced such huge hits as Dizzy by Tommy Roe. As both songwriter and producer he frequently collaborated with P. F. Sloan, and the partners were responsible for the success of The Grass Roots and contributed largely to the band's first album. They co- produced the global hit version of Sloan's song Eve of Destruction – a 1965 United States number one song by Barry McGuire (originally from the New Christy Minstrels). Barri and Sloan co-wrote and/or co-produced many other hit records in the mid-1960s including You Baby by The Turtles, A Must to Avoid by Herman's Hermits and Secret Agent Man by Johnny Rivers. Barri produced Mama Cass including her 1969 hits. Barri moved in 1982 to Motown Records as vice-president of A&R, producing The Temptations and overseeing big- selling releases by Lionel Richie and Rick James, among others. He also re-worked the company's rich back- catalog, introducing the Greatest Hits series. Spells followed at Capitol Records (as a consultant) and Left Bank Management, where he worked with acts such as Meat Loaf and Stephanie Mills, and at smooth jazz label, JVC.
