Secret Service

Forming a creative alliance during 1979, Ola Håkansson—once the frontman of Ola & the Janglers and at that time a publishing manager at Sonet Records—joined Tim Norell and Ulf Wahlberg in composing several tracks for submission to the Melodifestivalen contest. Although the entries fell short of victory, the trio chose to persist, rebranding their project from Ola+3 to Secret Service. The initial roster featured Håkansson on vocals alongside Norell and Wahlberg handling keyboards, Tony Lindberg on guitars, Leif Paulsen on bass, and Leif Johansson on drums.

Most of the group’s material was written by Norell in tandem with Håkansson, yet Norell never performed live or appeared on any album artwork. Their debut single, “Oh Susie,” quickly gained traction across Sweden as well as multiple markets in Europe and South America. The self-titled album containing the follow-up hit “Ten O’Clock Postman” earned gold certification throughout Scandinavia. Further momentum arrived when the 1982 synthpop track “Flash in the Night” registered strongly on charts throughout continental Europe. By the mid-1980s, Norell and Håkansson had begun crafting and producing material for outside acts; their duet “The Way You Are,” performed by Håkansson and former ABBA vocalist Agnetha Fältskog, received gold status in Sweden.

The final Secret Service album, Aux Deux Magots, appeared in 1987 under the names of Håkansson, Norell, and Wahlberg. By then the remaining original members had departed, leaving multi-instrumentalist Anders Hansson and bassist Mats A. Lindberg as replacements. Hansson later became the third member of the so-called Megatrio alongside Håkansson and Norell, forming a Swedish counterpart to Stock-Aitken-Waterman. In 1992 the same associates launched Stockholm Records through a joint venture with PolyGram, overseeing releases by acts that included Army of Lovers and the Cardigans.