Hansa was a German production company, founded in 1962 by Peter and Thomas Meisel and based in Berlin. As a record label, it first saw the light of day in the mid 1960s in its home land but it only made its British debut in 1977, in a partnership with Ariola, as 'Ariola Hansa' - Ariola had distributed the Hansa label in Germany since 1966, so the relationship was a well-established one. 'Music Week' of the 21st of May 1977 reported that Hansa was carrying out a search for talent to build up a roster of British acts, prior to setting up its new label. The issue of the 9th of July said that there was a strong possibility of a link-up between Hansa Productions and Ariola; six weeks or so later (20th August) that possibility had become a reality and Ariola had signed a three-year licensing deal with Pye for two new labels, Ariola and Ariola Hansa. By that time Hansa had set up a branch in London; one of the tasks of that branch was to pair up the new talent with existing producers ('MW' 23rd July) - Ariola was to be given first option on the resulting product. The talent search resulted in the signing of thirteen artists ('MW', 6th August), but fewer than half of them seem to have made it on to vinyl.
The parent company's prime interest continued to be in production. Its licensing deals were non-exclusive, which meant that its product found its way onto several other labels as well as Ariola Hansa: WEA was another major licenser, and Hansa's biggest sellers, Boney M, appeared on Atlantic with a Hansa logo on the label. Ariola Hansa tasted chart success in Britain in the '70s with boy-band Child (three times, 1978-79), Sarah Brightman (twice, 1978-79), Co-Co and Sugar Cane (once each, 1978), and Viola Wills (once, 1979). Top placing went to Sarah Brightman & Hot Gossip, who hit the No.6 spot with 'I Lost My Heart To A Starship Trooper' b/w 'Do, Do, Do' (AHA-527; 10/78); Viola Wills' version of 'Gonna Get Along Without You Now' b/w 'Your Love' (AHA-546; 8/79) nearly matched that, peaking at No.8. The company appears to have mainly gone in for cheerful danceable Euro-pop sort of things but it did have some serious artists, such as Japan - one of the fruits of the 1977 talent search, according to Billboard - and Peter Sarstedt. Singles had AHA-500 catalogue numbers. At the start of 1981 the Ariola Hansa label was replaced by a plain Hansa one, and the numbering changed to HANSA-0; for some reason HANSA-5, Aneka's 'Japanese Boy' b/w 'A Fond Kiss' (7/81) can be found on both Ariola Hansa and Hansa.
Ariola's licensing agreement with Pye was altered to a pressing and distribution one in July 1979, with the company intending to have its own sales force on the road by September ('MW', 21st July). In the early 1980s, however, Hansa's success rate at home and abroad dropped, and it was absorbed by the Bertelsmann group - owners of Ariola - in December 1984 ('Billboard', 22nd December). Only one label design was used for Ariola Hansa singles, but there were minor variations. The publisher credit started out under the artist name at the top of the label (1) and moved to the bottom (2) in the spring of 1978; then from the summer of 1979 a black 'A was added at 10 o'clock. The 'A' was initially small (6) but latterly larger (3). Demos were marked with a big central black 'A' (4, 5, 6). Ariola company sleeves (7) were sometimes used but the majority of singles came in plain black ones (8). The discography below only covers the 1970s; numbering ended at AHA-569 in 1980, but for some reason an isolated number beyond that, AHA-585, was issued in 1979.
Copyright 2006 Robert Lyons.