Secret Service is a Swedish pop band formed in Stockholm in 1979.[1]

Secret Service
Secret Service performing in 1985
Background information
Also known asOla+3 (1979)
OriginStockholm, Sweden
Genres
Years active
  • 1979–1987
  • 1992
  • 2000
  • 2006–present
Labels
Members
  • Tim Norell
  • Ulf Wahlberg
  • Anders Hansson
  • Mats Lindberg
  • Jamie Borger
  • Jan-Erik Perning
  • Johan Becker
Past members
  • Ola Håkansson
  • Tonny Lindberg
  • Leif Johansson
  • Leif Paulsén
  • Mikael Erlandsson
Websitesecretservicemusic.com

History

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In 1979, Ola Håkansson, former vocalist of Ola & the Janglers and then a publishing manager at Sonet Records, teamed up with Tim Norell and Ulf Wahlberg as Ola+3 to perform at the 1979 Melodifestivalen, a contest which is the Swedish qualification to the Eurovision Song Contest. Ola+3 did not win but the members decided to continue working together and recorded an LP as Ola+3. Besides Ola Håkansson (vocals), Tim Norell and Ulf Wahlberg (keyboards), the original lineup also included Tonny Lindberg (guitars), Leif Paulsen (bass) and Leif Johansson (drums). Norell, who along with lyricist Björn Håkanson penned most songs of the band, did not however appear with them on stage or on the band photos.[2]

Song number two on that Swedish LP-release, "Oh Susie (Bara vi två vet)," was released as a single with English lyrics, and the band changed its name to Secret Service. "Oh Susie" became number 1 in Sweden and, after Radio Luxembourg played the song, it charted in different countries worldwide, including South America and Australia. In Germany alone it sold a million units, and Wahlberg stated in 2017 that "Oh Susie" went to number 1 in 29 countries.[3][4] Their follow-up single, "Ten O'Clock Postman", also went gold in Sweden and became a top 5 single both in Germany and Japan.[5]

Following the success of the soca-tinged single "Ye-Si-Ca" in Colombia, the band went to a two-week promotional tour of the South American continent.[6]

Secret Service brought in new synthesizers into their sound; they had the first LinnDrum-machine that had just arrived in Sweden, and more successes followed, with their synthpop single "Flash in the Night," released in December 1981, hitting charts all over continental Europe.[7] In May 1982 Secret Service released their third album Cutting Corners and their first Greatest Hits album was also released before Christmas.

The album Jupiter Sign released in 1984, marked a new direction for the band, moving on from synthesizers to the use of new technology like sampled sounds and sequenced beats. Ola Håkansson also took over lyric writing under the alias Oson.

With the album When the Night Closes In and the single "Night City," the band helped launch the sound of the Hi-NRG movement. When the Night Closes In was also the last album recorded with the original line up. Jonas Frick directed a 18-minute promotional video featuring 6 of the songs.[8]

In 1986 Ola Håkansson released a duet with ex-ABBA member Agnetha Fältskog, "The Way You Are", which went gold in Sweden. In 1987 Håkansson, Norell and Wahlberg released Aux Deux Magots, their last album as Secret Service. New members were multi-instrumentalist Anders Hansson and bassist Mats A. Lindberg. Håkansson lost interest in being the singer and front man, and would become Norell's partner with Army of Lovers' Alexander Bard in what would be known as the Megatrio, the Swedish equivalent of Stock-Aitken-Waterman known as Norell Oson Bard.[9][10]

In 1992, Håkansson and his associates established Stockholm Records as a joint venture with PolyGram.[11]

In 2012, Secret Service released The Lost Box, an album with forgotten and unreleased recorded songs from the 1980s and early 1990s, such as "Different" and "Satellites".

Norell, Wahlberg, Hansson and Lindberg had begun to tour as Secret Service mostly in Russia with a new singer Mikael Erlandsson. Later it was Johan becker who took over the microphone.[12] They also released a single, Secret Mission, in 2020.[13] On 18 November 2022, a new album with new material was released.[14]

Tim Norell died on December 16th 2023 in Stockholm. He was 68.[15]

Personnel

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Timeline

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Discography

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Albums

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Studio albums

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Year Title Peak chart positions
FIN
[16]
GER
[17]
SWE
[18]
1979
Oh Susie 7
1981 Ye Si Ca 56 20
1982 Cutting Corners 12 9
1984 Jupiter Sign 25
1985 When the Night Closes In 24 37
1987 Aux Deux Magots 46
2022 Secret Mission
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released

Compilation albums

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Year Title Peaks
SWE
[18]
1982 Greatest Hits 14
1984 Sonets Guldskiveartister
1987 Collection
1988 Spotlight
1998 The Very Best Of
2000 Top Secret – Greatest Hits 49
2002 En Popklassiker
2012 The Lost Box 60
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released

Singles

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Year Single Peak chart positions
AUS
[19]
AUT
[20]
BE
[21]
DEN
[22]
FIN
[16]
FRA
[23]
GER
[24]
NL
[25]
NOR
[26]
SWE
[27][28]
SWI
[29]
1979 "Oh Susie" 49 7 27 35 9 6 1
"Ten O'Clock Postman" 8 30 4 18
"Darling, You're My Girl"
1980 "Ye Si Ca" 11 9 8 18 6
1981 "L.A. Goodbye" 11 16
"Flash in the Night" 17 12 8 6 23 42 6 12 9
1982 "Cry Softly (Time Is Mourning)" 18 27 10 12 8
"If I Try"
"Dancing in Madness" 10 11
1983 "Do It" 18
"Jo-Anne, Jo-Anne"
1984 "How I Want You"
1985 "Let Us Dance Just a Little Bit More"
"When the Night Closes In" 51
1986 "Night City"
"The Way You Are" (Ola Håkansson & Agnetha Fältskog) 1
1987 "Say, Say"
"I'm So, I'm So, I'm So (I'm So in Love with You)" 17
1988 "Don't You Know, Don't You Know"
1990 "Megamix" 11
1997 "Flash in the Night" (The Antiloop Reconstruction) 35
2000 "The Dancer"
2009 "Different"
2010 "Satellites"
2019 "Go On"
2020 "Secret Mission"
2021 "Lit de Parade"
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released

References

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  1. ^ "janglers". 12 November 2022.
  2. ^ "discogs". Discogs. 11 November 2022.
  3. ^ "Det svenska popundret". 11 November 2022.
  4. ^ Bergman, Fredrik (11 November 2022). "Ulf Wahlberg erövrade musikvärlden med Secret Service". Sveriges Radio.
  5. ^ "Worldwide chart positions". 11 November 2022. Archived from the original on 3 October 2002.
  6. ^ "Billboard 25 Jul 1981". 11 November 2022.
  7. ^ "flash-in-the-night". 11 November 2022.
  8. ^ "dailymotion". 11 November 2022.
  9. ^ "hall-of-fame". 11 November 2022.
  10. ^ "tv-ola-den-svenska-popkungen". 11 November 2022.
  11. ^ "TEN Music Group". 11 November 2022.
  12. ^ "secretservicemusic".
  13. ^ "timnorell.com".
  14. ^ "secretmission". 18 November 2022.
  15. ^ Silva, Emanuel (17 December 2023). "Tim Norell död – blev 68 år gammal". Sveriges Radio.
  16. ^ a b "Sisältää hitin: Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1960: Artistit SAR - SEM". Sisältää hitin. 12 August 2015. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  17. ^ "Offizielle Deutsche Charts - Offizielle Deutsche Charts". www.offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  18. ^ a b "swedishcharts.com - Swedish Charts Portal". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  19. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 268. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  20. ^ "Das österreichische Hitparaden- und Musik-Portal". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  21. ^ "ultratop.be - ULTRATOP BELGIAN CHARTS". ultratop.be. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  22. ^ "Danish Chart Archive - Singles 1979 - ____ (B.T./IFPI DK)". UKMIX Forums. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  23. ^ "InfoDisc : Les Tubes de chaque Artiste commençant par S". infodisc.fr. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  24. ^ "Suche - Offizielle Deutsche Charts". www.offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  25. ^ "Dutch Charts - dutchcharts.nl". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  26. ^ "norwegiancharts.com - Norwegian charts portal". norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  27. ^ "swedishcharts.com - Swedish Charts Portal". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  28. ^ "swedishcharts.com - The Official Swedish Charts - Singles - 17.10.1997". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  29. ^ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community". swisscharts.com. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
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