ARIOLA HANSA
RECORDS

 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. 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. Ariola was to be given first option on the resulting product.  The talent search resulted in the signing of thirteen artists 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), and Co-Co (once, 1978).  It 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, 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.  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. In the early 1980s Hansa's success rate at home and abroad dropped, and it was absorbed by the Bertelsmann group - owners of Ariola - in December 1984. Numbering ended at AHA-569 in 1980, but for some reason an isolated number beyond that, AHA-585, was issued in 1979. Thanks to Robert Lyons For The Info.

  

77	Co-Co	Money Song	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	501
77	Lloyd Andy	Shee Bap Shee Wiggle	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	502
77	Space Art	Onyx	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	503
77	Vicky Payton	Jesse	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	504
77	Pruess Graig	Widor'S Toccata	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	505
77	Warmsley Barry	Standing On The Corner	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	506
77	Sprinkler	Face To Face	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	507
78	Valentino	Evening In Calais	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	508
78	Stackton Toni	Let'S Stop Dancing	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	509
78	Japan	Don'T Rain On My Parade	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	510
78	Child	When You Walk In The Room	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	511
78	Paradox	Changes	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	512
78	Co-Co	Bad Old Days	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	513
78	Midnight	Don't Bother To Knock	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	514
78	Half Brother	Holding Hands With Love	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	515
78	Ashmore Larry & String Machine	Promises Promises Huh	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	516
78	Sarstedt Peter	Beirut	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	517
78	Gilla	Bend Me Shape Me	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	518
78	Lloyd Andy	Back To School	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	519
78	Hit & Run	Woolly Bully	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	520
78	Co-Co	I Cant Talk Love On The Telephone Line	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	521
78	Child	Its Only Make Believe	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	522
78	Thunder	Turks Delight	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	523
78	Sugar Cane	Montego Bay	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	524
78	Japan	The Unconventional	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	525
78	Chosen Few	Stand By Me	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	526
78	Brightman Sarah	Starship Trooper	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	527
78	Child	Still The One	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	528
79	Japan	Sometimes I Feel So Low	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	529
79	Coco	Truly	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	530
79	Sarstedt Peter	You'Ll Never Be Alone Again	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	531
79	Fletcher Linda	Hush	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	532
79	Sugar Cane	Valhedala	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	533
79	Half Brothers	Hideaway	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	534
79	Pruess Graig	Moving	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	535
79	Child	Only You (And You Alone)	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	536
79	Sarstedt Peter	Mulberry Dawn	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	537
79	Brightman Sarah	Love Crusader	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	538
79	Burnt Out Band	In Vain	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	539
79	Japan	Life Tokyo	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	540
79	Angletrax	Things To Make Them Do	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	541
79	Rhoden Pat	Stop	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	542
79	Not Issued		ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	543
79	Gilla	We Got To Get Out Of This Place	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	544
79	Child	Here Comes Summer	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	545
79	Wills Viola	Gonna Get Along Without You Now	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	546
79	Oyster	San Tropez	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	547
79	Chosen Few	Boogie Army	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	548
79	Not Issued		ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	549
79	Waves	Happy Together	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	550
79	Girl Skwadd	Sweet Talk	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	551
79	Lloyd Andy	Living In America	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	552
79	Child	Shape I'M In	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	553
79	Angeltrax	Things To Make And Do	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	554
80	Younger Cole	Candy	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	555
80	Ornel Hands	Can'T Help Falling In Love	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	556
80	Wills Viola	If You Could Read My Name	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	557
80	Opposition	This Year	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	558
80	Japan	I Second That Emotion	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	559
80	Outline	I Like Blue Beat	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	560
80	Wave	Happy Together	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	561
80	Urban Heroes	Not Another World War	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	562
80	Survivors	Hands Off	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	563
80	Willa Viola	Up On The Roof	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	564
80	Carter Eddie	Am I Wrong Again	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	565
80	St Clair Isla	Song Bird	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	566
80	Bristol Johnny	Love No Longer Has A Hold On Me	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	567
80	Three Way Switch	Leaving On A Jet Plane	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	568
80	Nicely Nick	D C T Dreams	ARIOLA / HANSA	AHA	569