Hansa Records (also known as Hansa, Hansa Musik Produktion or Hansa International) was a

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

based in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

founded in 1962.

History

In the early 1960s, brothers Peter and Thomas Meisel, grandchildren of Will Meisel, who was the founder of German music publisher Edition Meisel & Co. GmbH, assumed responsibility of the family's publishing company upon their grandfather's retirement, and founded Hansa Musik Produktion company and the Hansa record label in 1962. The label's name (and the name of the related recording studio) was inspired by the

Hanseatic League The Hanseatic League was a Middle Ages, medieval commercial and defensive network of merchant guilds and market towns in Central Europe, Central and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Growing from a few Northern Germany, North German towns in the ...

, a medieval Northern European maritime trade network. Initially, the label focused on German artists and Schlager music, later finding commercial success with artists such as Frank Farian's Boney M., Amii Stewart, Aneka, Modern Talking, Milli Vanilli, and others. In 1977, the label signed an early lineup of

The Cure The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Crawley in 1976 by Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith (vocals, guitar) and Lol Tolhurst (drums). The band's current line-up comprises Smith, Perry Bamonte (guitar and keyboards), Reev ...

(known at that time as Easy Cure), but wasn't happy with the band's demos and refused to release " Killing an Arab", suggesting that the band record cover songs instead. The band refused, and Hansa dropped them. In the mid-1980s, after a decline in sales both domestically and internationally, Hansa Records was eventually purchased by

Bertelsmann Music Group Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) was a division of a German media company Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Sony Corporation of America on 1 October 2008. Although it was established in 1987, the music c ...

, who merged them with several other labels like Ariola-Eurodisc to form BMG Berlin Musik GmbH/ BMG-Ariola, later to become part of international conglomerate

Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...

, under which it was phased-out in 2009. It is used today only for reissues of its previous releases.

Recording studios

When it became difficult for Hansa to book sufficient recording studio time at the Ariola-Eurodisc studio to keep up with their growing production schedule, the Meisel brothers built Hansa Studio One in Tiergarten in

West Berlin West Berlin ( or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin from 1948 until 1990, during the Cold War. Although West Berlin lacked any sovereignty and was under military occupation until German reunification in 1 ...

. In 1972, the Meisel brothers acquired Ariola's historic building at Köthener Strasse 38, home of the historic Meistersaal concert hall, naming it Hansa Tonstudio Two. Initially intended to record only Hansa Records projects, Hansa's studios gradually started booking non-Hansa clients, most notably

Iggy Pop James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter, actor and radio broadcaster. He was the vocalist and lyricist of proto-punk band the Stooges, who were formed in 1 ...

and

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

, who in 1977 recorded their respective albums '' Lust for Life'' and '' Low'' at the studio. In the late 1970s they closed the first studio and consolidated operations to the second, simplify referring to it as Hansa Tonstudio. The Meisel family retained ownership of Hansa Tonstudio, who run it as part of the Meisel Music group.

Selected list of Hansa label artists

* Angletrax *

Blue System Blue System was a German pop group that was founded by Dieter Bohlen in 1987 after the break-up of Modern Talking. Career The group consisted of Dieter Bohlen (mastermind creator, composer, writer, producer, mixer, arranger and verse main vo ...

* Boney M. * C. C. Catch *

Child A child () is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking ...

* Chilly * Eruption * Gilla *

Giorgio Moroder Giovanni Giorgio Moroder (, ; born 26 April 1940) is an Italian composer and music producer. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Disco", Moroder is credited with pioneering Euro disco and electronic dance music. His work ...

(1969–1972) *

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

(1978–1979) * La Mama * Les McKeown * Liz Mitchell * Milli Vanilli * M.C. Sar & the Real McCoy * Modern Talking *

Die Prinzen Die Prinzen ("The Princes") is a German pop rock band, consisting of former members of the Thomanerchor, and a former member of the Dresdner Kreuzchor. Overview Early albums consist of a cappella music. The band's first name was ''Die Herz ...

* Amii Stewart (1979–1981) * The Twins

Selected list of Hansa label releases (by year)

* The Action: " Harlem Shuffle" / "Wasn't It You" (1968) * Xhol Caravan: '' Electrip'' (1969) * Boney M.: '' Take the Heat off Me'' (1976) * Boney M.: '' Love for Sale'' (1977) * Boney M.: '' Nightflight to Venus'' (1978) *

Sugar Cane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

: "

Montego Bay Montego Bay () is the capital of the Parishes of Jamaica, parish of Saint James Parish, Jamaica, St. James in Jamaica. The city is the fourth most populous urban area in the country, after Kingston, Jamaica, Kingston, Spanish Town, and Portmore ...

" (1978) * Boney M.: '' Oceans of Fantasy'' (1979) *

: '' Quiet Life'' (1979) * New Celeste: ''On the Line'' (1979) * Amii Stewart: '' Knock on Wood'' (1979) * Nick Nicely: "DCT Dreams" (1980) * Viola Wills: " If You Could Read My Mind" (1980) * Aneka: " Japanese Boy" (1981) * The Twins: "

Ballet Dancer A ballet dancer is a person who practices the Art (skill), art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet. They rely on years of extensive training and proper technique to become a part of a professional ballet company. B ...

" (1984) * Modern Talking: '' The 1st Album'' (1985) * Modern Talking: ''

Let's Talk About Love ''Let's Talk About Love'' is the fifteenth studio album and fifth English-language album by Canadian singer Celine Dion, released on 14 November 1997 by Sony Music. The follow-up to the commercially successful '' Falling into You'' (1996), ''Le ...

'' (1985) * C. C. Catch: '' Catch the Catch'' (1986) * Chris Norman: '' Some Hearts Are Diamonds'' (1986) * Modern Talking: '' Ready for Romance'' (1986) * Modern Talking: '' In the Middle of Nowhere'' (1986) * Milli Vanilli: '' All or Nothing'' (1988) * John Parr: "Westward Ho" (1990) * Bonnie Tyler: '' Bitterblue'' (1991) * The Catch featuring Don Snow: ''25 Years – The Album'' (1991) * Bonnie Tyler: '' Angel Heart'' (1992) * Bonnie Tyler: '' Silhouette in Red'' (1993) * M.C. Sar & the Real McCoy: " Another Night" (1993) * Modern Talking: '' Back for Good'' (1998) * Modern Talking: '' Alone'' (1999)

References

{{Authority control Defunct record labels of Germany Rock record labels Pop record labels Record labels established in 1965 Record labels disestablished in 2009

History

Recording studios

Selected list of Hansa label artists

Selected list of Hansa label releases (by year)

See also

References