I can never think of Devo without thinking of Woody Boyd on Cheers in this episode (go to the 40 sec mark).
They have, of course, become an old group now, but there was a time when they were at the cutting edge of rock music.
Unfortunately, compared to their early stuff, this single sees them more as a mainstream rock outfit. It comes from their Duty Now For The Future album which was received with less than glowing reviews at the time.
The song itself is written in part by P F Sloan (you'll maybe recognise the name from a superb song by Rumer...
)
Secret Agent Man was written for an early sixties TV show. Many artists have had a go at it: Mel Torme, Johnny Rivers and Devo are obviously among them. Johnny had the big hit with it in 1966 (I include it for comparison and coz it's the best version for my money)
It's both a catchy song and a catchy version.
Hidden gem: The B side is also on the album so no rarity value. It's also a catchy song with a catchy chorus but, like so many songs chosen for B sides - it's true home is on a B side.
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