Rivers' song was really catchy. You still here it now and then on oldies radio stations.It kinda stays in your head.
But eerily it had a somewhat prophetic couple of lines: "Givin' you a number and takin' 'way your name."
And what was McGoohan's next project after that show, hummmm?;)
lipe2--useless information inc.
Yeah, that is a little interesting. I wonder if that might be the genesis of the concept.
But I still like the original Danger Man theme better.
You know what, though? In Danger Man (I like giving it the 'correct' name! ) I've never come across an episode where they discuss him having a number. He frequently uses a different last name to his own but he's almost always John someone-or-other unless he's impersonating somebody (for example, "Such Men Are Dangerous").
Even in the James Bond series, he has a name, not just a number. I can't think of any agent-type series where they have numbers and not names.
So I don't know *what* they were thinking of when they wrote/put that song to the series. And anyway, they should have stuck with the original theme - to use dreadful grammar but something often said these days: "It's way cooler!" In my opinion, the dramatic flavour of the series is captured far better by the original theme music.
I still love the Secret Agent Man song, though.
First, "giving you a number" line was referring to his next series "The Prisoner".
Second, Johnny Rivers Song was written independent of the series and was added for American audiences.
I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own.
windanative, I agree about the original theme music. It is both playful and forceful, with the harpsichord giving it a Baroque feel. It is much more appropriate to the adult complexities of most of the Danger Man stories. The "Secret Agent Man" song is light and poppish and doesn't convey the show's substance. A fun pop song, but not a complement to the show itself.
I can't think of any agent-type series where they have numbers and not names.
Get Smart's Agent 99, for one, might have an opinion on that.
Johnny Rivers' "Secret Agent Man" was very similar to another hit of his, "Seventh Son." Not sure which came first though.
share