À la suite du succès du single Ye-Si-Ca teinté de soca en Colombie, le groupe part pour une tournée promotionnelle de deux semaines sur le continent sud-américain.

SECRET SERVICE introduit de nouveaux synthétiseurs dans son son et ils possède la première machine LinnDrum qui vient d'arriver en Suède. D'autres succès ont suivi, avec le single synthpop Flash in the Night, sorti en décembre 1981 dans les charts de toute l'Europe continentale. En mai 1982, le groupe sort son troisième album Cutting Corners et sa première compilation Greatest Hits sort avant Noël.

Avec l'album Jupiter Sign sorti en 1984, le groupe montre une nouvelle direction, passant des synthétiseurs à l'utilisation de nouvelles technologies comme les sons échantillonnés et les rythmes séquencés. Ola Håkansson reprend également l'écriture des paroles sous son pseudonyme Oson.

L'album When the Night Closes In et le single Night City contribue ensuite à lancer le son du mouvement Hi-NRG . When the Night Closes In est également le dernier album enregistré avec la formation originale. Jonas Frick réalise une vidéo promotionnelle de 18 minutes présentant six des chansons8.

En 1986, Ola Håkansson sort un duo avec Agnetha Fältskog, ex- ABBA, The Way You Are, qui remporte l'or en Suède. En 1987, Håkansson, Norell et Wahlberg sortent Aux Deux Magots, leur dernier album en tant que Secret Service. Les nouveaux membres du groupe sont le multi-instrumentiste Anders Hansson et le bassiste Mats A. Lindberg. Håkansson perd tout intérêt à être le chanteur et leader, et devient le partenaire de Norell avec Alexander Bard de Army of Lovers dans ce qui sera connu sous le nom de Megatrio, un équivalent suédois de Stock-Aitken-Waterman connu sous le nom de Norell Oson Bard.

En 1992, Håkansson et ses associés créent Stockholm Records en coentreprise avec PolyGram11.

En 2012, SECRET SERVICE sort The Lost Box, un album contenant des chansons enregistrées oubliées et inédites des années 1980 et du début des années 1990, telles que Different et Satellites.

Norell, Wahlberg, Hansson et Lindberg font ensuite une tournée avec un nouveau chanteur, Johan Becker, principalement en Russie. Ils sortent également un single, Secret Mission en 2020. Le 18 novembre 2022 sort un nouvel album.

photo Par Tansev — Travail personnel, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32984202

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

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. Their follow-up single, "Ten O'Clock Postman", also went gold in Sweden and became a top 5 single both in Germany and Japan.

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.

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. 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.

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.

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

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. They also released a single, Secret Mission, in 2020. On 18 November 2022, a new album with new material was released.

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