SECRET AGENT MANJohnny Rivers

Secret Agent Man is a song written by Steve Barri and P. F. Sloan. 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. The song itself peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in May 1966. The song evokes secret agents both musically 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" is a reference to the numerical code names given to secret agents, such as 007 for James Bond. When it was originally recorded by Johnny Rivers, the song merely had one verse and one chorus. Later, after the song began to gain 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, but was not released until after a few studio production touch-ups were done shortly after.