# Spy tunes **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 8, 2005, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-tunes/325312 "2005-10-08T15:11:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2005, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-tunes/325312/1 "2005-10-08T15:11:28Z")
I’ve recently downloaded the following songs: _Secret Agent Man Peter Gunn Theme Get Smart Theme I Spy Theme_ (the original show) _The Pink Panther Theme The James Bond Theme (Dr. No) Route 66_ Okay, the last one really isn’t a ‘spy tune’ but it sort of fits the era and the ‘feel’. What are some other spy tunes I can add to my playlist? I’ve thought of _Mission Impossible_ and _The Man From U.N.C.L.E._ I don’t remember the latter, and my connection is too slow to sample it here. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2005, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-tunes/325312/2 "2005-10-08T15:30:45Z")
Lalo Schifrin’s “Mission: Impossible” theme is a classic, and one of the rare pieces of popular music in 5/4 time. It’s definitely a worthwhile part of any music collection. A lot of music from the band Portishead is inspired by spy movie soundtracks, and occasionally they even use samples. I think you would like them a lot. If you’re downloading songs, sample them with “Theme From ‘To Kill a Dead Man’” and “Sour Times (Nobody Loves Me).” Also, because of the reverb-drenched twangy guitars played in minor keys, there is a lot of crossover between surf music and spy movie music. Check out bands like the Aqua Velvets, the Volcanos, Spies Who Surf, Man… Or Astroman?, and Los Straitjackets for a lot of spy/surf hybrid sounds. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2005, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-tunes/325312/3 "2005-10-08T15:36:54Z")
> [@Big Bad Voodoo Lou](#): > > Lalo Schifrin’s “Mission: Impossible” theme is a classic, and one of the rare pieces of popular music in 5/4 time. It’s definitely a worthwhile part of any music collection. Yeah, that’s probably going to be downloaded next time. > [@Big Bad Voodoo Lou](#): > > A lot of music from the band Portishead is inspired by spy movie soundtracks… I like Portishead, but I was hoping to stick to ‘classic’ tunes. That is, tunes that were made during the era. > [@Big Bad Voodoo Lou](#): > > Also, because of the reverb-drenched twangy guitars played in minor keys, there is a lot of crossover between surf music and spy movie music. Check out bands like the Aqua Velvets, the Volcanos, Spies Who Surf, Man… Or Astroman?, and Los Straitjackets for a lot of spy/surf hybrid sounds. I have a separate Beach Music playlist with classic surf bands, plus The Big Kahuna And The Copa Cats and The Mermen. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2005, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-tunes/325312/4 "2005-10-08T15:38:48Z")
“Contact in Red Square” - Blondie (from their underrated _Plastic Letters_ album). ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2005, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-tunes/325312/5 "2005-10-08T16:11:33Z")
Not sure if this violates your “classics” criterion, but the various Bond movies have “opening credits” songs besides the Bond theme proper. A recent one that I’m especially a fan of is Garbage’s “The World Is Not Enough.” ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2005, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-tunes/325312/6 "2005-10-08T16:30:00Z")
Definitely the _Avengers_ TV theme. And while you’re at it, maybe the _Prisoner_ and _Perry Mason_ themes. (The latter has nothing to do with spies, but I think the music would fit in nicely on your list.) ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2005, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-tunes/325312/7 "2005-10-08T16:51:44Z")
> [@Ferret Herder](#): > > Not sure if this violates your “classics” criterion, but the various Bond movies have “opening credits” songs besides the Bond theme proper. A recent one that I’m especially a fan of is Garbage’s “The World Is Not Enough.” Best Bond song, worst Bond movie. 😛 (Well, not really. Best Bond song is “Live and Let Die” and the worst Bond movie is “You Only Live Twice” (that’s the crappy re-make of Thunderball done by a different studio, yes? But “The World is Not Enough” has the higest good song to crappy movie ratio.) ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2005, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-tunes/325312/8 "2005-10-08T16:54:51Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > Best Bond song, worst Bond movie. 😛 > > (Well, not really. Best Bond song is “Live and Let Die” and the worst Bond movie is “You Only Live Twice” (that’s the crappy re-make of Thunderball done by a different studio, yes? But “The World is Not Enough” has the higest good song to crappy movie ratio.) I have to agree with that. In fact, the video of the title song that was on the _The World Is Not Enough_ DVD was better than the movie itself. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2005, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-tunes/325312/9 "2005-10-08T18:20:29Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > Best Bond song, worst Bond movie. > > (Well, not really. Best Bond song is “Live and Let Die” and the worst Bond movie is “You Only Live Twice” (that’s the crappy re-make of Thunderball done by a different studio, yes? But “The World is Not Enough” has the higest good song to crappy movie ratio.) Um, no. Best Bond theme: the instrumental to **On Her Majesty’s Secret Service** ; the worst film is a tossup (or would that be upchuck?) between **The Man With the Golden Gun** and **Moonraker** , and the crappy Thunderball remake was the non-canonical **Never Say Never Again**. ---
**Author:** ![Emily\_Litella](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emily_litella/32/3370_2.png) [@Emily\_Litella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emily_Litella)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2005, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-tunes/325312/10 "2005-10-08T18:29:07Z")
The theme from Hawaii 5 o? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2005, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-tunes/325312/11 "2005-10-08T19:32:39Z")
> [@The Scrivener](#): > > Best Bond theme: the instrumental to **On Her Majesty’s Secret Service**. That lets you leave out the Xmas tree song, right? Sneaky. ---
**Author:** ![mrunlucky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7993a0/32.png) [@mrunlucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrunlucky)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2005, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-tunes/325312/12 "2005-10-08T19:55:47Z")
Unless you’re like me and have a huge crime jazz soundtrack collection that you’ve spent years on, you’d probably be content with just the songs from the **Crime Jazz: Music in the First Degree** and **Second Degree** and **Ultra-Lounge: Crime Scene** compilations. Google those as well as “crime jazz” and you should be set for weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2005, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-tunes/325312/13 "2005-10-08T22:37:21Z")
No love for [“The Saint”](http://imdb.com/title/tt0055701/)? (I actually prefer Graeme Revell’s version of The Saint Theme from the 1997 film, which is the only way in which that film could be considered remotely superior to the show.) They’re not exactly spy shows, but the title characters are ex-spies: [“Stringray”](http://imdb.com/title/tt0090528/) (with the title theme by Mike Post and Pete Carpenter), and [The Equalizer](http://imdb.com/title/tt0088513/) (which I believe was composed by Stewart Copeland). The film was awful, but John Barry’s score for [Moonraker](http://imdb.com/title/tt0079574/) (with the title track sung by three time Bond vocalist Shirley Bassey) was haunting. He did similiarly good work on [The Living Daylights](http://imdb.com/title/tt0093428/) (though I thought he should have worked a zither in there somehow, just to reinforce the homage). It’s a toss-up as to whether the brassy [Goldfinger](http://imdb.com/title/tt0058150/) score or the experiemental orchestral fusion tracks for [On Her Majesty’s Secret Service](http://imdb.com/title/tt0064757/) are his best work. The Barry-esque theme music to [The Incredibles](http://imdb.com/title/tt0317705/) is also worth note. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2005, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-tunes/325312/14 "2005-10-08T22:50:35Z")
**The Bagman’s Gambit** , by _The Decemberists_. Awesome song. Opening verse: \* On the lam from the law On the steps of the capitol You shot a plainclothes cop on the ten o’clock And I saw momentarily They flashed a photograph, it couldn’t be you You’d been abused so horribly But you were there in some anonymous room And I recall that fall I was working for the government And in a bathroom stall off the National Mall How we kissed so sweetly How could I refuse a favor or two For a tryst in the greenery I gave you documents and microfilm, too \* ---
**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2005, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-tunes/325312/15 "2005-10-08T23:53:14Z")
How about Weird Al’s _Spy Hard_? ---
**Author:** ![St\_Ides](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@St\_Ides](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St_Ides)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2005, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-tunes/325312/16 "2005-10-08T23:53:43Z")
Whenever I feel the need to be a secret agent, I tend to listen to Secret Agent (The soundtrack for your stylish, mysterious, dangerous life). It’s an internet radio station, put out by SomaFM (The link creator button doesn’t seem to be working for me right now and I can’t remember UBB code, but their URL is [www.somafm.com](http://www.somafm.com)) All the music on it sounds like it belongs in a spy movie, and the songs are separated by clips from various Bond movies. It’s great. ---
**Author:** ![Antonius\_Block](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2005, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-tunes/325312/17 "2005-10-09T00:39:28Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > Secret Agent Man The Johnny Rivers [Secret Agent Man](http://www.danger-man.co.uk/mp3s/rivers.MP3) (direct link to mp3) theme was used for the [later seasons](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058846/) (known in the US as _Secret Agent_) of the series that started out in the UK as [Danger Man](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053496/). [Here](http://www.danger-man.co.uk/memorabilia/records.htm) is a page with MP3 downloads of the various seasons of _Danger Man_; the one most familiar to UK listeners is probably the second one on this page, by the Edwin Astley Orchestra. I’ll second **Biffy** ’s recommendation of _The Prisoner_, and add the [theme](http://www.hmss.com/otherspies/sandbaggers/sandbaggers/sb_theme.wav) (wav file) to [The Sandbaggers](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077078/). ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2005, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-tunes/325312/18 "2005-10-09T01:00:01Z")
No, no, people. The worst Bond theme has to be that wretched piece of technocrap by Mrs. Guy Ritchie, “Die Another Day.” ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2005, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-tunes/325312/19 "2005-10-09T01:00:27Z")
I don’t suppose _Spy In The House Of Love_ is at all what you’re looking for? (I didn’t suppose. But I’ve been listening to **the dB’s** today.) ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2005, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-tunes/325312/20 "2005-10-09T01:02:09Z")
There’s a compilation called [The Avengers and other Top Sixties TV Themes](http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playlistId=7227760) that’s not stellar, but not bad either. It’s got “The Avengers,” of course, as well as “The Saint,” a bunch of Gerry Anderson series, and some stuff I’ve never heard of – mostly British TV. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-tunes/325312.md?page=2)