"Secret Agent Meets The Saint" Music Composed and Conducted by Edwin Astley

Perhaps the greatest theme song for a TV show I have ever heard is Edwin Astley's "High Wire" (the theme for "Danger Man/Secret Agent").  Even though I watched 'Secret Agent" (starring Patrick McGoohan) as a child I was only familiar with Johnny River's "Secret Agent Man" - later a hit for DEVO.  It was years later, I heard "Hire Wire" I think when I watched the original BritIsh version of "Secret Agent," which is called "Danger Man" in the UK.  It's confusing. I know.  The British/American TV world had their separate standards, but as a connoisseur of everything wonderful, I normally go to the British for the state-of-the-art version.   Today in my six mile walk, I purchased "Secret Agent Meets The Saint."  Issued in 1965, this rare piece of vinyl is ground zero for my interest in British Spy TV soundtrack music.  Ashley was a talented composer/arranger/conductor and his unique way of using the harpsichord as not as a baroque instrument, but something modern sounding was / is excellent. Side one is the "Secret Agent" side and the other is "The Saint."  Both are superb examples of music of that period.  "The Saint" has a fantastic piece of flute/voice with piano scales going up and down.  It sort of reminds me of a British version of a horror Morricone soundtrack.   The thing is Astley likes to swing hard - and basically the whole album is a toe-tapper.

TV Theme Danger Man (Full Version)

This is the melody I hum every morning while walking or even in the shower. The great Patrick McGoohan's first TV series "Danger Man" that somehow became "Secret Agent Man" in the United States. Eventually the same character, in theory mind you, turned into No. 6 in "The Prisoner." Nevertheless my interest is in the music theme, which I think is a masterpiece of sorts.