P.F. Sloan
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P.F. Sloan is an American pop-rock singer and songwriter, born Philip Schlein in New York City in 1944. His family moved to West Hollywood, California in the late 1950s, and as a teenager he became part of the burgeoning Los Angeles music scene of the early 1960s. Along with songwriting partner Steve Barri, he used the name Phil F. Sloan or P.F. Sloan. Under these names, he wrote or co-wrote such 1960s hits as "Secret Agent Man", the US version of the theme tune for the British TV series Danger Man, which had been retitled Secret Agent for the US market (performed by Johnny Rivers), "Eve of Destruction" (Barry McGuire) and "You Baby" (The Turtles). He also wrote songs for the Rolling Stones, The Grass Roots, Jan and Dean, and various others.
Sloan, known to friends as "Flip," enjoyed some success as a solo performer in the late 1960s and early 1970s, but he was beset by business and legal problems. As a result, he largely dropped out of sight in the mid-1970s and did not record or perform again until the early 1990s, and has rarely performed since.
"P.F. Sloan" is also the title of an anthem by Sloan's fellow singer-songwriter Jimmy Webb (best known for his songs "Witchita Lineman" and "By the Time I Get to Phoenix"). Webb released at least two different versions of the catchy, bitter-sweet compostition, which seems to be about the cost of being a creative groundbreaker, circa 1970.