"Man of Mystery" is a song by

the Shadows The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in the pre- Beatles era. They served as the backing band for Cliff Richard ...

, released as a single in November 1960. It peaked at number 5 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

Background and release

"Man of Mystery" was written by Michael Carr for the theme tune for the

film series A film series or movie series (also referred to as a film franchise or movie franchise) is a collection of related films in succession that share the same fictional universe, or are marketed as a series. This article explains what film series are ...

'' Egdar Wallace Mysteries'', based on the books by

Edgar Wallace Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace (1 April 1875 – 10 February 1932) was a British writer. Born into poverty as an illegitimate London child, Wallace left school at the age of 12. He joined the army at age 21 and was a war correspondent during th ...

. For the first three series, "Man of Mystery" was a "slow and haunting arrangement featuring flute, accordion and string section". However, from the fourth series, an up-tempo

beat Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ( ...

version featuring an electric guitar and percussion was used. The Shadows recorded their version of "Man of Mystery" in October 1960 and it was released as a

double A-sided The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

single with "The Stranger" in November. "Man of Mystery" was released in the US and Canada by

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

in February 1962, with the flip side "

Kon Tiki The ''Kon-Tiki'' expedition was a 1947 journey by raft across the Pacific Ocean from South America to the Polynesian islands, led by Norwegian explorer and writer Thor Heyerdahl. The raft was named ''Kon-Tiki'' after the Inca god Viracocha, for ...

", which had been released as a single in the UK in September 1961. Reviewing for '' Disc'',

Don Nicholl Donald Nicholl (August 9, 1925 – July 5, 1980) was an English-American screenwriter and producer. His production company Nicholl Ross West (with Mickey Ross and Bernie West) wrote for the situation comedies ''All in the Family'', ''The Jeffer ...

wrote of "Man of Mystery" that the "melody is forceful without being complicated. The instrumentalists play it with inbuilt excitement that ought to have jukes rattling everywhere". He also described "The Stranger" as "another fairly solid instrumental with a theme that's rather reminiscent of some western tunes which have gone before".

Track listing

7": Columbia / DB 4530 # "Man of Mystery" – 1:58 # "The Stranger" – 2:37 7": Atlantic / 2135 (US and Canada, 1962) # "Man of Mystery" – 2:00 # "

" – 1:55

Charts

"Man of Mystery" "The Stranger"

Cover versions

* In 1961, American musician

Chet Atkins Chester Burton Atkins (June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001), known as "Mr. Guitar" and "The Country Gentleman", was an American musician who, along with Owen Bradley and Bob Ferguson, helped create the Nashville sound, the country music s ...

released a cover of the song as a single. * In 1965, American guitarist

Al Caiola Alexander Emil Caiola (September 7, 1920 – November 9, 2016) was an American guitarist, composer and arranger, who spanned a variety of music genres including jazz, country, rock, and pop. He recorded over fifty albums and worked with some of ...

covered the song on his album ''Sounds for Spies and Private Eyes''. * In 1976, English guitarist

Bert Weedon Herbert Maurice William Weedon, OBE (10 May 1920 – 20 April 2012) was an English guitarist whose style of playing was popular and influential during the 1950s and 1960s. He was the first British guitarist to have a hit record in the UK ...

covered the song on his compilation album ''

22 Golden Guitar Greats ''22 Golden Guitar Greats'' is a compilation album by guitarist Bert Weedon released in 1976 on the Warwick label. It reached number one in the UK Albums Chart in November 1976 making Weedon the first solo guitarist to have a number one album. ...

''. * In 1981, English producer Nigel Wright, as Mojo, sampled the song on his Shadows medley single "Dance On", which peaked at number 70 on the UK Singles Chart. * In 1994, Danish singer

Tommy Seebach Tommy Seebach (14 September 1949 – 31 March 2003), born Tommy Seebach Mortensen in Copenhagen, Denmark, was a popular Danish singer, composer, organist, pianist and producer. He is best known as front man of Sir Henry and his Butlers and for nu ...

, as Seebach Band, covered the song on his album ''Instrumental Megahits 1''. * In 2016, French guitarist

Noël Akchoté Noël Akchoté (born 7 December 1968) is a French guitarist in free improvisation, classical, experimental, and free jazz. Career Starting on guitar at when he was eight years old,Philippe Carles, André Clergeat et Jean-Louis Comolli, ''Dictio ...

covered the song on his album ''Shot Gun – Plays the Shadows''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Man of Mystery 1960 singles 1960 songs 1960s instrumentals The Shadows songs Columbia Graphophone Company singles Song recordings produced by Norrie Paramor