‘Secret Agent Man’ and ‘Eve of Destruction’ songwriter P.F. Sloan dies at 70

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – P.F. Sloan, the songwriter behind such classic 1960s tunes as Johnny Rivers’ “Secret Agent Man” and Barry McGuire’s “Eve of Destruction,” has died. He was 70.

Howard Wuelfing, a spokesman for Sloan, says the singer-songwriter died Sunday at his home in Los Angeles after battling pancreatic cancer for several weeks.

Sloan signed his first record deal when he was 13 and went on to write songs for such artists as the Turtles, Grass Roots and Fifth Dimension. He also released several of his own albums and published the memoir “What’s Exactly The Matter With Me?” last year.

Other songs written by Sloan included Herman’s Hermits’ “A Must to Avoid,” Terry Black’s “Unless You Care” and Jan Dean’s “I Found a Girl.”