Secret Service is a Swedish pop group whose name means "Secret Service". The famous band released many hits, but the musicians had to work hard to be at the top of their fame.
How did it all start with Secret Service?
The Swedish musical group Secret Service was hugely popular in the early 1980s. Before that, it was a long journey of ups and downs.
The history of future stars began in the distant 1960s. In 1963, Ola Håkansson joined The Janglers as a vocalist. The new member managed to quickly find a common language with other members and become a leader. Now the name of the band began to sound like Ola & The Janglers.
Together with the vocalist, the team included four more musicians. Among them were such famous personalities as Klaes af Geijerstam (author from the early period of Ola & The Janglers) and Leif Johansson. Soon the team became popular not only in Sweden, but also abroad.
Finding yourself in the work of the Secret Service group
The first repertoire of rising stars consisted of cover versions of songs by famous bands: The Rolling Stones, The Kinks. Then 20 singles were recorded. In 1967, the guys tried themselves as film actors. They starred in two films at once: Drra Pa - Kulgrej Pa Vag Till Gӧtet and Ola & Julia.
In the second movie, one of the main roles went to the soloist of the group. For the next two years, the musicians continued to work on creating new songs.
The work of the team members was not in vain. In 1969, their composition Let's Dance entered the American Billboard Top 100. Despite the first successes, interest in the band began to fade by the early 1970s.
New Secret Service attempts to succeed
In addition to his work with The Janglers, the vocalist has had several solo works in Swedish. In 1972, Ola Håkansson created the group Ola, Fruktoch Flingor.
Band members recorded several records, released singles in their native language. At this stage, fortune did not smile on them.
The 1970s were marked by the opening of a recording studio for Ola Håkansson. Composer Tim Norell, keyboardist Ulf Wahlberg, Tony Lindberg worked closely with him. Together, the Ola + 3 project was created. Tim Norell worked on the repertoire.
In 1979, the guys jointly released the song Det Kanns Som Jag Vandrar Fram, which was presented at the Melodi Festivalen song festival in Sweden.
The jury did not appreciate the composition, as did the viewer himself. This failure became an incentive for the band members. And soon they appeared on the stages of Europe under the proud name of Secret Service.
It also included members of the previous team: Toni Lindberg, Leif Johansson and Leif Paulsen. Such perseverance paid off very quickly. Their first offspring Oh Susie began to win the hearts of European listeners. Soon the song became famous far beyond the borders of the homeland.
The sensational hit was followed by the song Ten O'Clock Postman, which firmly took a leading position in radio rotation, even in Japan. The album Oh Susie was released very soon, including sensational compositions.
Most of the album's songs have gained popularity among numerous listeners. This album and all subsequent ones were released in English. In addition, there were Spanish-language versions of all hits, designed for sales in Venezuela, Spain and Argentina.
In 1981, the second disc Ye Si Ca was released, not inferior in popularity to the previous one. The lyrics to the songs were written by Bjorn Hakanson, and the composer, as before, was Tim Norell. Bjorn is the pseudonym of the band's vocalist. This name was later changed to Oson.
Changes in the composition of the Secret Service
In the 1980s, musicians were increasingly interested in new, electronic instruments. This interest did not bypass the members of the group. In the third record they recorded, you can clearly hear the playing of the synthesizer.
The group's style also changed - the compositions became more melodic, and percussion instruments no longer dominated the melodies. In 1984, the guys released another hit Flash in the Night. The year turned out to be fruitful and soon a new album was released.
In 1987, passions began to heat up inside the team. Several members left its membership (Tony Lindberg, Leif Johansson and Leif Paulsen). They were replaced by keyboardist Anders Hansson and bassist Mats Lindberg.
The next album, Aux Deux Magots, was created by the new line-up. With the arrival of new members, song compositions sounded in a new way. The authorship of the songs belongs to the notorious Alexander Bard. Then there was a pause in the work of the group. All the time the team members worked on their own projects.
Although sometimes the guys continued to delight fans of their work with new collections. In 1992, Bring Heaven Down was released as the soundtrack for the film Ha Ett Underbart Liv.
The second wind of the Secret Service team
Until 2004, the group was on the verge of breaking up. During this period, they still managed to reunite and once again please the fans with the Top Secret Greatest Hits collection, which included completely new creations by the musicians. And in 2007, the team worked on the music for the musical Flash in the Night.
The new and last album in the band's repertoire, The Lost Box, was released in 2012. It includes previously unpublished compositions, updated old hits and several new songs.
