Fools Garden (known as Fool's Garden until 2003) is a German band formed in 1991 in the city of

Pforzheim Pforzheim () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city of over 125,000 inhabitants in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg, in the southwest of Germany. It is known for its jewelry and watch-making industry, and as such has gained the ...

. The founders of the group and its only permanent members are vocalist Peter Freudenthaler and guitarist Volker Hinkel. In 1993, bassist Thomas Mangold, keyboardist Roland Röhl and drummer Ralf Wochele were invited to join Fool's Garden for the recording of their second studio album, '' Once in a Blue Moon''. The band became famous worldwide in 1995 owing to the release of their third studio album '' Dish of the Day'' and, in particular, the song " Lemon Tree", which entered numerous music charts around the world and topped five of them. However, Fool's Garden was never able to repeat the success of their only hit. A series of releases failed to replicate the commercial success of ''Dish of the Day'' in 1997, 2000, and 2003, resulting in tension and disagreement amongst the band's members, and dramatically discrediting its reputation in the eyes of record label executives. Consequently, Mangold, Röhl, and Wochele left Fool's Garden in 2003, but a year later new musicians joined the band. To signify the change, it was decided to remove the apostrophe from the band's name on their next album, '' Ready for the Real Life''. Unable to secure a new recording contract, the members of Fools Garden founded their own label, Lemonade Music, in 2004. Fools Garden's musical style has been characterized as

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...

soft rock Soft rock (also known as light rock or mellow rock) is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in the United States and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, mel ...

Britpop Britpop was a mid-1990s United Kingdom, British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. Musically, Britpop produced bright, catchy alternative rock, with significant influences from British guitar pop of the 1960s and 1970s. B ...

, and some other genres. Critics have noted the influence of such artists as

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

, Sting, and

The Who The Who are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. Considered one of th ...

. The group may be classified as a

one-hit wonder A one-hit wonder is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music performers with ...

. Since its formation in 1991, the band has released nine studio albums, received 12 music awards, and played over a thousand live performances. The bands's total sales have exceeded 6 million copies. As of 2025, Fools Garden continues to perform, almost exclusively in Germany. The band performs both in complete line-up and as a duo (Hinkel/Freudenthaler) or a trio (Hinkel/Freudenthaler/Holz).

Background

In 1987, Volker Hinkel and Claus-Dieter Wissler founded the music project called Magazine. Together they recorded two songs: "W. A. R." (this song was dedicated to the

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) and "A Time of Life". Later in 1991, Hinkel entered the University of Stuttgart, where he became acquainted with Peter Freudenthaler, who studied multimedia technology. Prior to starting his studies at the university, Peter Freudenthaler had already participated in several musical groups and worked as a piano tuner. Having learned that Freudenthaler also composed music, Hinkel asked him for recordings of his songs ("Sandy" and "Tell Me Who I Am"), and later invited him to Magazine. Hinkel reworked Freudenthaler's arrangement of "Lena", which was the first work of the Hinkel/Freudenthaler duo. Despite being Germans, the musicians made the decision to write songs in English, as they felt that English was more suitable to their music and the performers who inspired them sang in English as well. Together they rearranged their compositions and recorded them on a

compact cassette The Compact Cassette, also commonly called a cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog magnetic tape recording format for audio recording and playback. Invented by Lou Ottens and his team at the Dutch company ...

. Via Steffen Koch (who became the band's producer for the next few years), this cassette got to Gunter Koch. He listened to Magazine's songs, appreciated them and agreed to collaborate with the band on following recordings. Being inspired by the performance of

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environmentBlur and

, the musicians chose to play

, despite the fact that it was extremely difficult to achieve any commercial success playing such music, since

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded dance musi ...

and

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempos being in the range from 120 to 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time ( ) and often ...

were especially popular in Germany in those years. After a while, Hinkel and Freudenthaler discovered a newspaper advertisement, in which it was proposed to record an album for 130 DM. This is how ''Magazine'' was recorded. In addition to the songs recorded on the promo cassette, the album included two songs written by Hinkel with Claus Wissler, as well as a cover version of the song "

I Am the Walrus "I Am the Walrus" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1967 television film ''Magical Mystery Tour (film), Magical Mystery Tour''. Written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney, it was released as the B-side to ...

" by The Beatles. This limited edition album was the precursor for the promo album '' Fool's Garden - Man in a Cage'' (simply abbreviated as ''Fool's Garden'') released in 1991. They also decided to include a cover version of the song " Cry Baby Cry", which was sung by Volker Hinkel, as well as the songs "Scared" and "No Flowers By Request", which Hinkel recorded with Claus Wissler. In order to perform the recorded material live, it was decided to invite bassist Thomas Mangold, keyboardist Roland Röhl and drummer Ralf Wochele, and rename the band to Fool's Garden. According to Peter Freudenthaler, the name "Fool's Garden" was the most consistent with the band's philosophy and suited the description of its members. The newly formed band played their first gig in 1991 — Fool's Garden performed as the opening act for Sidney Youngblood in

Böblingen Böblingen (; ) is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, seat of Böblingen (district), Böblingen District. Sindelfingen and Böblingen are Geographic contiguity, contiguous. History Böblingen was founded by Count Wilhelm von Tübingen-Bö ...

History

Early career and first successes (1991–1994)

The eponymous promo-album, which was dedicated to John Winston Lennon, got no recognition. There were only five copies ever produced. The band's first singles "Careless Games / Tell Me Who I Am" and "Once in a Blue Moon / Spirit '91" were released in 1992. Due to the lack of the opportunity to rehearse and record songs in a professional studio, the members of the young band were forced to meet several times a week in the living room of Volker Hinkel's parental home. In the same year, Fool's Garden first appeared on radio, television (TV channels SWR 3 in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

and Tele 5 in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

) and began performing their first concerts in Pforzheim, which made them famous in their region. In 1993, the band decided to re-record the songs from the promo CD and release the first full-length studio album '' Once in a Blue Moon''. It was originally released by the group independently on the Town Music label with a circulation of one thousand copies. The CDs were sold mainly at concerts, sent to local radio and TV stations, and were also given away for free. To promote the new material, Fool's Garden immediately embarked on an extended concert tour throughout

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

and adjoining

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

. As Peter Freudenthaler recalled, at that time the band mainly performed in small municipal halls in front of a small audience. According to him, only 20 people came to the first Fool's Garden concert in Munich. It is also worth noting that on ''Fool's Garden'' and ''Once in a Blue Moon'', the lead vocals were equally divided between Peter Freudenthaler and Volker Hinkel. The album ''Once in a Blue Moon'' turned out to be a commercial failure, resulting in Town Music label suffering heavy losses and even ending up on the verge of bankruptcy. The company's management was going to cancel the contract with the band, but after a series of negotiations, Steffen Koch managed to convince the head of Town Music to retain the partnership with Fool's Garden until the next studio album was released. Moreover, despite all the efforts of the band and its producer, large companies did not dare to work with Fool's Garden. Fool's Garden achieved their first major success in 1994. The German branch of fashion retailer C&A used "Wild Days", the first single from the band's upcoming studio album for a TV commercial. The song "Wild Days" won a competition from over 700 applicants. Also, the single "Wild Days" became the first release of the group to enter the music charts: the song reached #59 in the German chart (where it lasted 13 weeks) and #37 in Austria. In the same year, Fool's Garden made their first guest appearances in the German interregional newspaper Sonntag aktuell. Wolle Kriwanek, the author of the article, predicted a major success for Fool's Garden after listening to their songs, which just happened a year later.

Worldwide commercial success: "Lemon Tree" and ''Dish of the Day'' (1995–1996)

In April 1995, a single with the song " Lemon Tree" was released. It became a real hit and got high positions in many European charts. The atmosphere reminiscent to that of The Beatles' songs, retro sounding in the style of the 1960s, perfect English pronunciation and melancholic lyrics let the song to gain recognition from millions of listeners around the world. Freudenthaler composed it when he was waiting for his girlfriend at home. There were 45 cover versions of the song recorded, and it has also been translated into 40 languages. Due to the lack of support from the major record label, Fool's Garden were forced to record, release and promote new releases on the small Town Records label almost independently. Having noticed the success of Fool's Garden, Intercord, which had previously refused to cooperate with the band, signed a contract with them in November 1995. Intercord CEO Robert Collisch believed that the biggest benefit to Fool's Garden was that they were a real band, not just a project. The album '' Dish of the Day'' was released in December 1995, containing the songs "Lemon Tree" and "Wild Days". According to Intercord's report, ''Dish of the Day'' became a bestseller in Europe with over 600,000 copies sold and over 1,100,000 copies worldwide. The album entered many charts throughout Europe. Both "Lemon Tree" and ''Dish of the Day'' sold best in Austria and Switzerland. Fool's Garden's songs were played on radio stations around the world, from

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

. The song also enjoyed success in the UK, where it peaked at #61 on the UK Singles Chart, and the remix version also entered the chart, peaking at a higher #26. According to Intercord, the band had great potential to play internationally. Due to Intercord, "Lemon Tree" and ''Dish of the Day'' achieved particular success in Southeast Asia: the song received the "Song of the Year" award from Metro Broadcast Corporation Ltd. in Hong Kong, and Taiwanese singer

Tarcy Su Tarcy Su (; born 27 October 1970) is a Taiwanese singer and actress who was most popular in the 1990s during her recording career with Rock Records. She has released three albums since 2002. In 2021, she was nominated for Best Female Mandarin ...

has recorded covers in

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

and Cantonese Chinese. The album received

gold certification Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

in Thailand,

platinum certification Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

in Singapore, Taiwan and double platinum one in Malaysia. Between March and May 1996, Fool's Garden had played about 50 concerts with an approximate audience of 700 people at each concert. In the summer of the same year, the quintet participated in 14 open-air concerts, performing as an opening act for the German pop rock band Pur, however already in the autumn Fool's Garden began touring as headliners. Between the 14th and 16 June 1996, Fool's Garden performed as headliners at the Open Flair music festival with such famous German performers as

Marla Glen Marla Glen (born January 3, 1960) is an American singer from Chicago, Illinois, United States, who has been based in Germany since 1998. Career Marla, son of Dell Glen ( American-Jamaican) and Cortez Glen (Mexican-American), grew up on the Sou ...

, Selig and Jazzkantine, and on 5 July, the band performed with

Joan Osborne Joan Elizabeth Osborne (born July 8, 1962) is an American singer, songwriter, and interpreter of music, having recorded and performed in various popular American musical genres including rock, pop, soul, R&B, blues, and country. She is best kn ...

Suede Suede (pronounced ) is a type of leather with a fuzzy, napped finish, commonly used for jackets, shoes, Textile, fabrics, Handbag, purses, furniture, and other items. Suede is made from the underside of the animal skin, which is softer and m ...

, Blur and

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 ...

at the Midtfyns Festival in Ringe, Denmark. In the same year, Intercord reissued the album '' Once in a Blue Moon'', however, despite the excitement around the band after the success of "Lemon Tree", the album neither entered the charts nor received any certification. Also in 1996, Fool's Garden's music first appeared in German cinema: the song "Wild Days" was included on the soundtracks for the film " Regular Guys" and the TV series " Freunde fürs Leben".

Worldwide tour and release of ''Go and Ask Peggy for the Principal Thing'' (1997–1999)

The success of 1995-1996 brought the band a number of awards, including

ECHO In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the lis ...

, Goldene Stimmgabel, Goldene Europa,

Bambi ''Bambi'' is a 1942 American Animated film, animated Coming of age, coming-of-age drama film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. Loosely based on Felix Salten's 1923 novel ''Bambi, a Life in the Woods'', the ...

and R.SH Gold. Following the commercial success of "Lemon Tree" and ''Dish of the Day'', the band embarked on a worldwide concert tour, playing over 100 shows around the world. The number of listeners at the concerts reached up to 80,000. Fool's Garden have played in Europe outside Germany, North America, South Africa, and Asia, where it has achieved the greatest success. Touring in Italy and

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

was also successful. According to Thomas Mangold and Roland Röhl, at that time the members of the band had an income of about 1,500

Deutsche Mark The Deutsche Mark (; "German mark (currency), mark"), abbreviated "DM" or "D-Mark" (), was the official currency of West Germany from 1948 until 1990 and later of unified Germany from 1990 until the adoption of the euro in 2002. In English, it ...

per month. This allowed them to quit their regular jobs and take up professional musical careers. After returning from the world tour, the musicians began working on a new album.Parts of Fool's Garden interview for

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

: * * * * As Fool's Garden members became professional musicians and stopped spending time on regular work, new material was prepared very quickly: the songs were composed just in two months, and the process of recording took only six months - it began in January 1997 and lasted until July. Recording and mixing took place at Maryland and Hinkelstone Studio. The third album, '' Go and Ask Peggy for the Principal Thing'', was released on 8 September 1997. Three months before the official release in order to promote the disc, a single with the song "Why Did She Go?" was released, which managed to stay on the German singles chart for 9 weeks, reaching #76. The song has also been suggested to be used for an automobile advertisement. Another notable song is "Probably", which was recognized as the group's second major success after "Lemon Tree". The single with the song peaked at #86 in the German chart, staying there for 8 weeks. Also "Probably" received serious support from radio stations and in 1997 almost entered the top 50 most played songs in Europe. In the same year, "Probably" was featured on the soundtrack for the TV series Kommisar Rex. Despite Intercord's hopes that the new album will sell out in large numbers on the wave of the popularity of the previous platinum album ''Dish of the Day'', ''Go and Ask Peggy for the Principal Thing'' did not repeat the success of its predecessor. It took only #44 in Germany and #50 in Switzerland. According to the Russian musical agency Zvuki.Ru, the reason for such failure was "absence of a title hit." In 1998, Fool's Garden performed at the German Cultural Days in Singapore.

Commercial failures and line-up changes (2000–2003)

Three years later, on 5 June 2000, Fool's Garden released their next studio album '' For Sale'', which was produced by James Herter, on the Seven Days Music label. The name "For Sale" reflected the situation in the band at that time — after the breakup of the Intercord/EMI label, the band was literally put up for sale. The first single "Suzy" stayed on the German singles chart for 8 weeks, reaching #75. After the release of the album, the band arranged a promotional tour in Germany and also organized an autograph session in

. On 18 June, Fool's Garden performed in Singapore at the Radio Music Awards. Also on 24 July, the band performed in Ulm at a concert organized annually by the local radio station Radio 7. ''For Sale'' was released all over the world: in Europe, South Africa, Mexico, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Japan and the Philippines. Despite the vast geographic variety of the release and the band's efforts to promote the new material, the album turned out to be a commercial failure, it also did not achieve chart success: ''For Sale'' took #84 on the German albums chart, staying with this result for only 1 week. An attempt to release something similar to the biggest hit of the group "Lemon Tree" also failed — for 3 weeks in the German singles chart the song "It Can Happen" could not rise above #86. In 2001, Fool's Garden signed a contract with another record label

Polydor Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...

. In September of the same year, the band celebrated their 10th anniversary with a two-day party in

, which featured many well-known German bands. The proceeds from this event were donated to charity through the Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Foundation. Also in 2001, the band began work on their next studio album. The new CD '' 25 Miles to Kissimmee'' was ready to be released in early 2002, but due to delays on the part of Polydor Records, the album was not released until 17 January 2003. Due to another unsuccessful album, tension and disagreements occurred between the musicians. As a result, on 19 April of the same year, rumors appeared in the press that Fool's Garden had disbanded. Bassist Thomas Mangold, keyboardist Roland Röhl and drummer Ralf Wochele left the band. After leaving Fool's Garden, Thomas Mangold and Roland Röhl started an advertising agency and a print shop for production of CD and

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

covers in Merklingen. Mangold continued his musical career playing bass with many different bands. Ralf Wochele got a job as a music teacher at a school, and was also accepted into the band called CoverUp, in which he still participates. Hinkel and Freudenthaler decided to pursue their musical careers as a duo. However, they faced a number of problems in the further promotion of the album ''25 Miles to Kissimmee'', as due to the breakup of the band Polydor refused to cooperate further with Fool's Garden. Therefore, the remaining members of the band formed their own label Lemonade Music. Soon, guitarist Gabriel Holz, bassist Dirk Blümlein and drummer Claus Müller were invited to the group for live performances. The last two musicians have collaborated with Volker Hinkel since 2002 on his solo project Hinkel, in particular on the album ''Not a Life-Saving Device''. Changes in the line-up were also marked in the name of the band: from that time on, it became known as Fools Garden (without an apostrophe).

New line-up and musical style (2004–2013)

Volker Hinkel, Peter Freudenthaler and new musicians recorded the album '' Ready for the Real Life'', which was released in the autumn of 2005. As soon as the work on the album was completed, Blümlein, Holz and Müller were invited to Fools Garden as permanent members. For the purpose of promoting the album, the single "Does Anybody Know? / Welcome Sun" was released in the summer of 2005. Critics noted a change in band's musical style: Fools Garden moved away from

and switched to guitar-based

melodic rock Rock is a genre of popular music that originated in the United States as "rock and roll" in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of styles from the mid-1960s, primarily in the United States and the United Kingdom. It has its ...

. The new musical style allowed the band to enter the airplay of radio stations again and the songs from ''Ready for the Real Life'' to become the soundtracks for various films, TV shows and commercials. On 3 July 2005, the band played their biggest concert, performing at the festival dedicated to the 750th anniversary of

Kaliningrad Kaliningrad,. known as Königsberg; ; . until 1946, is the largest city and administrative centre of Kaliningrad Oblast, an Enclave and exclave, exclave of Russia between Lithuania and Poland ( west of the bulk of Russia), located on the Prego ...

. In total, the concert attracted over 100,000 listeners. Also in 2005, Fools Garden was honored with the Ravensburger Kupferle Award. In 2007 Gabriel Holtz left the band and returned to his native

Neukölln Neukölln (), officially abbreviated Neuk, is one of the twelve boroughs of Berlin. It is located south-east of Berlin's center and stretches from the inner city southward to the border with Brandenburg, encompassing the eponymous quarter of Neu ...

. In 2008–2009, Fools Garden released two new EPs, ''Napster Session 2008'' and ''Home'', as well as a compilation album '' High Times - The Best of Fools Garden'' and a live album ''Best Of Unplugged - Live''. The compilation also contained a new song "High Time", which was released as a single. The song reached high positions in the charts of listeners of various radio stations, for example,

Hessischer Rundfunk (; "Hesse Broadcasting"), shortened to HR (; stylized as hr), is the German state of Hesse's public broadcasting corporation. Headquartered in Frankfurt, it is a member of the national consortium of German public broadcasting corporations, A ...

In 2011, the band celebrated their 20th anniversary by performing at a charity concert with the Pforzheim Chamber Orchestra. In the same year, Fools Garden began writing material for a new release, which was recorded in the first half of 2012 in England. In July of the same year, the new single "Innocence" was presented to a number of radio stations, and in August it reached number one on the SW3 listeners' chart. A video clip was also filmed for the song, which the band members created on their own. The seventh album '' Who Is Jo King?'' was released on 14 September. The cover artwork was created by

Klaus Voormann Klaus Otto Wilhelm Voormann (born 29 April 1938) is a German graphic artist, artist, musician, and record producer. Voormann was the bassist for Manfred Mann from 1966 to 1969, and performed as a session musician on a host of recordings, includ ...

, known for designing the cover for

Revolver A revolver is a repeating handgun with at least one barrel and a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold six cartridges before needing to be reloaded, ...

'' in 1966. This explains the noticeable similarity between the two covers. In early 2013, the second single from ''Who Is Jo King?'' "Maybe" was released. In the same year, Fools Garden performed at the German Festival at the

Brandenburg Gate The Brandenburg Gate ( ) is an 18th-century Neoclassical architecture, neoclassical monument in Berlin. One of the best-known landmarks of Germany, it was erected on the site of a former city gate that marked the start of the road from Berlin t ...

Second line-up change (2014–present)

2018-07-15 ZDF Fernsehgarten Fools Garden-1006

The band's line-up changed again in 2014–2015. First of all, Gabriel Holz returned to Fools Garden in the autumn of 2014. In early 2015, keyboardist Torsten Kiefer joined the band, whereas in the early summer of the same year, drummer Claus Müller left the group and was replaced by Jan Hees. In 2015, Fools Garden performed cover versions of ten 1990s hit songs by various artists such as

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music, electronic band formed in Basildon, Essex in 1980. Originally formed with the line-up of Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher (musician), Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke, the band currently consists ...

Annie Lennox Ann Lennox (born 25 December 1954) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving moderate success in the late 1970s as part of the new wave band the Tourists, she and fellow musician Dave Stewart w ...

, the

Backstreet Boys Backstreet Boys (often abbreviated as BSB) are an American vocal group consisting of Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, AJ McLean, and cousins Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson (musician), Kevin Richardson. The band formed in 1993 in Orlando, Flori ...

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...

No Doubt No Doubt is an American rock band formed in Anaheim, California in 1986. For most of its career, the band has consisted of vocalist and founding member Gwen Stefani, guitarist Tom Dumont, bassist Tony Kanal and drummer Adrian Young. Keyboar ...

and

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

in their usual unique style for the third season of the RTL 90s-themed music show "Formula 1". For ten consecutive weeks, Fools Garden performed each song under the moderation of Peter Illmann. It was decided to release these cover versions on an album called ''Flashback''. At the end of 2016, Fools Garden together with the German

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

singer Karl Frierson recorded a new song "New World", which was released in early 2017. In the same year, the 10-episode documentary "25 Years to New World" was released on the band's official

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel.Episodes of «25 Years To New World» documentary on the band's official

channel: * 1: * 2: * 3: * 4: * 5: * 6: * 7: * 8: * 9: * 10: In April 2018, Fools Garden released their next album ''Rise and Fall'', which was recorded at the band's own studio in Neuhausen. It was the first time when Gabriel Holz participated in composition of all the songs, along with Peter Freudenthaler and Volker Hinkel. It's the band's first album since 2000's '' For Sale'' to enter the German charts, reaching #97 between 7 and 13 May 2018. Maxazine named the album "the best since '' Dish of the Day'' and successor '' Go and Ask Peggy for the Principal Thing''", and Musikreviews.de called ''Rise and Fall'' "the best album since 1995." To promote the new material, Fools Garden embarked on an extensive concert tour across Germany. Peter Freudenthaler and Volker Hinkel also expressed their desire to do a concert tour in the UK someday. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Fools Garden organized the online festival on

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

called "Garden Festival". It was held on 1 May 2020, and was also associated with a fundraising campaign organized by the Rotary Club Pforzheim. In the summer of the same year, Peter Freudenthaler, Volker Hinkel and Jan Hees took part in the recording of songs "ABCD" and "La-rissa" of the Italian music project La Crisi Di Luglio. At the moment the band is working on a new album. The first song "Outta Love" recorded in electro-pop genre was released on 25 September. On 24 November 2022 it was announced that

BMG Rights Management BMG Rights Management GmbH (also known simply as BMG) is an international music company based in Berlin, Germany. It combines the activities of a music publisher and a record label. BMG was formed in October 2008 after Bertelsmann sold its st ...

had acquired the recordings catalog of Fools Garden. In 2024, Fools Garden released an EP
Lemon Tree
as limited edition release for Record Store Day.

Musical style, influence and legacy

General characteristics and development

Critics classify Fools Garden's musical style as fusion of

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

bubblegum pop Bubblegum (also called bubblegum pop) is pop music in a catchy and upbeat style that is marketed for children and adolescents. The term also refers to a more specific rock and pop subgenre, originating in the United States in the late 1960s, th ...

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with a DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and s ...

, and

post rock Post-rock is a subgenre of experimental rock that emphasizes texture, atmosphere, and non-traditional song structures over conventional rock techniques. Post-rock artists often combine rock instrumentation and rock stylings with electronics a ...

. Various sources also highlighted the elements of

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850, through the World War I, Great War. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as Varie ...

baroque pop Baroque pop (sometimes called baroque rock) is a fusion genre that combines rock music with particular elements of classical music. It emerged in the mid-1960s as artists pursued a majestic, orchestral sound and is identifiable for its appropria ...

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

power pop Power pop (also typeset as powerpop) is a subgenre of rock music and form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, ...

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

electronic rock Electronic rock (also known as electro rock and synth rock) is a music genre that involves a combination of rock music and electronic music, featuring instruments typically found within both genres. It originates from the late 1960s when rock b ...

dream pop Dream pop (also typeset as dreampop) is a subgenre of alternative rock and neo-psychedelia that emphasizes atmosphere and sonic texture as much as pop melody. Common characteristics include breathy vocals, dense productions, and effects such ...

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s b ...

and new wave in the band's sound. Russian newspaper

Kommersant (, , ''The Businessman'' or Commerce Man, often shortened to Ъ) is a nationally distributed daily newspaper published in Russia mostly devoted to politics and business. The TNS Media and NRS Russia certified July 2013 circulation of the daily ...

wrote that listeners usually learn about Fools Garden due to plays on

retro Retro style is imitative or consciously derivative of lifestyles, trends, or art forms from the past, including in music, modes, fashions, or attitudes. It has been argued that there is a nostalgia cycle in popular culture. Definition The term ...

-oriented radio stations (the vast majority includes the song " Lemon Tree"), but over the period of its existence the band has released many good albums. It was also mentioned that the band's style has similarities with both dance music and rock. In another article of the same newspaper, it was noted that the group has an attitude towards "old-fashioned pop-rock", but the band's material is quite diverse: "there are things that are heavier and softer, there are ballads and fierce songs, sometimes Freudenthaler even uses

autotune Auto-Tune is audio processor software released on September 19, 1997, by the American company Antares Audio Technologies. It uses a proprietary device to measure and correct pitch in music. It operates on different principles from the vocoder ...

." The clear influence of psychedelic rock has been noted in the songs "And You Say", "Suzy", "Rainy Day", "Noone's Song" and "Northern Town", and the author of the website Zvuki.Ru also mentioned that Fool's Garden play songs that fans of

may adore. Joerg Hellwig, head of marketing at Intercord, told ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' that Fool's Garden's music is "colorful guitar pop with a British touch and clear references to this genre's great tradition, which was perfected by The Beatles and have never been surpassed." The band members tried to avoid the use of electro elements and other effects and relied on acoustics to try to achieve a natural sound of the music. By the same edition, the band's style was characterized as Middle of the Road. A critic from ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later m ...

'', describing the musical style of '' Dish of the Day'', noted that the sound of Fool's Garden is based on the style of

, but the sound of guitars is closer to rock, and the song "Lemon Tree" was described as a mixture of circus music and

of the late 60s with signature melodies. In a review by Danish magazine '' Gaffa'' on the next album, '' Go and Ask Peggy for the Principal Thing'', Lars Nielsen wrote that the release continues the "light airy melody" of its predecessor. In an interview for ''Billboard'' on the release of '' For Sale'', the band's producer Steffen Koch noted that the band's songs have matured, with a more rock emphasis, while maintaining a Beatlesque sound. The songs in '' 25 Miles to Kissimmee'' were mostly melodic

rock ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner. Ball ...

s. After the line-up change, Fools Garden moved away from

and on the following album '' Ready for the Real Life'' they switched to "guitar-oriented rock". The style of the song "Cook It a While" was compared to the US West Coast rock. The album ''Who Is Jo King?'' was characterized by a strong bias towards

, while certain elements of

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

and

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

started to be introduced into the band's sound. On their latest album ''Rise and Fall'', Fools Garden returned to their original style, while continuing to experiment with sound. For example, the song "Still Running" was completely recorded in synth pop style.

Influence on the group's style

were noted by many critics as the main artist to impact on the style of Fool's Garden. The typical Beatles' retro atmosphere and melancholic lyrics were observed in the sound of the band's songs. Both Peter Freudenthaler and Volker Hinkel have frequently named The Beatles as their main source of inspiration and creative ideas. Fool's Garden's musical style has been repeatedly described as being based on the work of The Beatles but with a heavier sound of guitars. In 2012, in the Russian talk show "Profilaktika", Freudenthaler and Hinkel were asked who was the most important person in Fools Garden, and both of them instantly replied 'Beatles.' The similarity in sound with the British inspirers turned out to be so strong that many listeners mistakenly attribute the authorship of the song " Lemon Tree" to them. In addition to the Fab Four, Fool's Garden' style was also compared with the sound of Blur and

Simple Minds Simple Minds are a Scottish Rock music, rock band formed in Glasgow in 1977, becoming best known internationally for their song "Don't You (Forget About Me)" (1985), which topped the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' Billboard Hot 100, Hot 100 ...

. The members also ranked

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment The Who The Who are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. Considered one of th ...

and

Coldplay Coldplay are a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer and percussionist Will Champion, and manager Phil Harvey (band m ...

as influential artists. Lev Gankin from the

newspaper found "Lemon Tree" similar to the songs of

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

, stating "The romantic minor of verses, followed by a lively

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

in the choruses - something similar can be heard in countless McCartney hits, starting with the old " All My Loving". Also, according to other reviewers, the style of "Lemon Tree" was influenced by Sting and

Jellyfish Jellyfish, also known as sea jellies or simply jellies, are the #Life cycle, medusa-phase of certain gelatinous members of the subphylum Medusozoa, which is a major part of the phylum Cnidaria. Jellyfish are mainly free-swimming marine animal ...

in terms of harmony and instrumental parts. Another example of Paul McCartney's influence on the band's style is the song "Probably". The song "Suzy" has a borrowing from

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...

's "

Stairway to Heaven "Stairway to Heaven" is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, released on 8 November 1971 on the band's untitled fourth studio album (commonly known as ''Led Zeppelin IV''), by Atlantic Records. Composed by the band's guitarist Jimmy ...

Robert Plant Robert Anthony Plant (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band Led Zeppelin from its founding in 1968 until their breakup in 1980. Since then, he has had a successful solo ca ...

's vocal wail at the end of the original song was transformed into a synth riff in the

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

of "Suzy".

Brian May Sir Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, animal welfare activist and astrophysics, astrophysicist. He achieved global fame as the lead guitarist and backing vocalist of the rock band Queen ...

from

Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

was named as the source of inspiration for Volker Hinkel in writing guitar solos. The spread of elements of electronic music in the sound of recent albums is thought to be influenced by

Moby Richard Melville Hall (September 11, 1965), known professionally as Moby, is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, disc jockey, and animal rights activist. He has sold 20 million records worldwide. AllMusic considers him to be "amo ...

and

A-ha A-ha (often stylised as ''a''-h''a''; ) is a Norwegian synth-pop band formed in Oslo in 1982. Founded by Paul Waaktaar-Savoy (guitars and vocals), Magne Furuholmen (keyboards, guitars and vocals), and Morten Harket (lead vocals), the band ros ...

. Different critics describe several songs as being influenced by

The Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in London in 1963 by brothers Ray Davies, Ray and Dave Davies, and Pete Quaife. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British ...

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

, Fury in the Slaughterhouse, U2 and Eagle-Eye Cherry. The members of Fools Garden also told they adore the music of

Pat Metheny Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer. He was the leader of the Pat Metheny Group (1977–2010) and continues to work in various small-combo, duet, and solo settings, as well as other side pr ...

Pete Townshend Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend (; born 19 May 1945) is an English musician. He is the co-founder, guitarist, keyboardist, second lead vocalist, principal songwriter and leader of the Who, one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s an ...

, Heintje Simons,

Status Quo is a Latin phrase meaning the existing state of affairs, particularly with regard to social, economic, legal, environmental, political, religious, scientific or military issues. In the sociological sense, the ''status quo'' refers to the curren ...

Noel Gallagher Noel Thomas David Gallagher (born 29 May 1967) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. Gallagher is the primary songwriter, lead guitarist and a co-lead vocalist of the rock band Oasis (band), Oasis. After leaving Oasis, he formed Noel ...

, Half Moon Run,

AC/DC AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock and Heavy metal music, heavy metal, although the band calls it simply "rock and roll". They are cited as a formativ ...

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

Scorpions Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the Order (biology), order Scorpiones. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by a pair of Chela (organ), grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward cur ...

and Udo Lindenberg.

Appraisal

Fool's Garden are considered followers of the Britpop wave that swept the world in the 90s, and the most prominent representatives of the German Britpop scene. The band is also one of the most iconic German performers on the international music scene along with the

, E-rotic, Fun Factory and Mr. President. Wolfgang Spahr, the German Bureau Chief of ''

'', presented Fool's Garden the "Ambassador Award" for great success in Asia in the 1996's final issue. Fool's Garden have been recognized as one of the most famous

s. However, despite the fact that, in addition to "Lemon Tree", Fools Garden no longer released commercially successful singles, various sources also highlight other quite popular songs: "Wild Days", "It Can Happen", "Why Did She Go?", "Innocence", "Probably", "Suzy", "Closer", "Dreaming" and "Does Anybody Know?". In the interview for ''

Frankfurter Allgemeine The (; ''FAZ''; "Frankfurt General Newspaper") is a German newspaper founded in 1949. It is published daily in Frankfurt and is considered a newspaper of record for Germany. Its Sunday edition is the ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung'' ( ...

'', Peter Freudenthaler stated that he thought about many songs that they would become hits, but this never happened. In 2012, Alexander Rusakov, in his book "Who is Who, or MUZPROSVET in Global Contemporary Popular Music", put Peter Freudenthaler on #792 in the rating of 1000 best musicians of global contemporary popular music for participation in Fool's Garden. The band was mentioned to play a fundamental role in the formation of modern retro-rock trends. In the magazine ''Novyi Ochevidets'', the song "Lemon Tree" was named the main German hit of the 90s. Frontman Peter Freudenthaler said in an interview for the ''

Chas Chas may refer to: __NOTOC__ Places * Chas, Puy-de-Dôme, a commune in central France * Chas, Bokaro, a city in Jharkhand, India * Chas block, an administrative division in Jharkhand, India * Chas, Khed, a panchayat village in Maharashtra, Ind ...

'' newspaper that Fool's Garden is "the third German band after the

and

Modern Talking Modern Talking was a German pop duo consisting of arranger, songwriter and producer Dieter Bohlen and singer Thomas Anders. They have been referred to as Germany's most successful pop duo, and have had a number of hit singles, reaching the to ...

, which has gained worldwide popularity". The band's songs can be found many times in popular culture. In the mid-1990s, Applause Inc., which owns the rights to the Smurfs franchise, released a compilation album ''Smurfenhits!'', containing the song "Lemon Tree", recorded with the voice of the Smurfs, which bolstered sales for the company. Also, references to Fool's Garden and the songs "Lemon Tree" and "Rolling Home" can be found in modern fiction. During the 1996 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships, "Lemon Tree", being at its peak of popularity, was played at every match of the Czech national team, thereby becoming a kind of anthem for the team. It is noteworthy that in this championship the Czechs won a gold medal for the first time in their history.

Band members

Current members

* Peter Freudenthaler — lead and backing vocals, keyboards, composer (1991—present) * Volker Hinkel — guitar, lead and backing vocals, composer (1991—present) * Dirk Blümlein — bass guitar, backing vocals (2003—present) * Gabriel Holz — guitar, backing vocals, composer (2003—2007; 2014—present) * Thorsten Kiefer — keyboards (2015—present) * Jan Hees — drums, percussion (2015—present)

Former members

* Claus-Dieter Wissler — composer (1991—1995) * Thomas Mangold — bass guitar, backing vocals (1991—2003) * Ralf Wochele — drums, percussion, backing vocals (1991—2003) * Roland Röhl — keyboards, backing vocals (1991—2003) * Claus Müller — drums, percussion, backing vocals (2003—2014)

Timeline

ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:25 PlotArea = left:110 bottom:100 top:10 right:10 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:1991 till:2024 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:4 ScaleMajor = increment:3 start:1991 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:1991 Colors = id:Lead value:red legend:Lead_vocals id:Back value:pink legend:Backing_vocals id:Guitar value:green legend:Guitar id:Bass value:blue legend:Bass id:Keyboards value:purple legend:Keyboards id:Drums value:orange legend:Drums id:Lines value:black legend:Studio albums id:Bars value:gray(0.95) BackgroundColors = bars:bars LineData= at:01/10/1991 color:black layer:back at:19/02/1993 color:black layer:back at:07/12/1995 color:black layer:back at:08/09/1997 color:black layer:back at:28/11/2000 color:black layer:back at:17/01/2003 color:black layer:back at:20/10/2005 color:black layer:back at:14/09/2012 color:black layer:back at:27/11/2015 color:black layer:back at:20/04/2018 color:black layer:back BarData= bar:Freudenthaler text:"Peter Freudenthaler" bar:Hinkel text:"Volker Hinkel" bar:Holz text:"Gabriel Holz" bar:Röhl text:"Roland Röhl" bar:Kiefer text:"Thorsten Kiefer" bar:Mangold text:"Thomas Mangold" bar:Blümlein text:"Dirk Blümlein" bar:Wochele text:"Ralf Wochele" bar:Müller text:"Claus Müller" bar:Hees text:"Jan Hees" PlotData = width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Freudenthaler from:01/01/1991 till:31/12/1993 color:keyboards width:3 bar:Freudenthaler from:01/03/2003 till:01/01/2015 color:keyboards width:3 bar:Freudenthaler from:01/01/1991 till:end color:Lead bar:Hinkel from:01/01/1991 till:end color:Guitar bar:Hinkel from:01/01/1991 till:31/12/1993 color:Lead width:3 bar:Hinkel from:31/12/1993 till:end color:Back width:3 bar:Hinkel from:31/12/1993 till:end color:Keyboards width:7 bar:Mangold from:01/12/1991 till:01/03/2003 color:Bass bar:Mangold from:01/12/1991 till:01/03/2003 color:Back width:3 bar:Röhl from:01/12/1991 till:01/03/2003 color:keyboards bar:Röhl from:01/12/1991 till:01/03/2003 color:Back width:3 bar:Wochele from:01/12/1991 till:01/03/2003 color:Drums bar:Wochele from:01/12/1991 till:01/03/2003 color:Back width:3 bar:Müller from:01/08/2003 till:01/06/2015 color:Drums bar:Müller from:01/08/2003 till:01/06/2015 color:Back width:3 bar:Blümlein from:01/08/2003 till:end color:Bass bar:Blümlein from:01/08/2003 till:end color:Back width:3 bar:Holz from:01/08/2003 till:01/06/2007 color:Guitar bar:Holz from:01/10/2014 till:end color:Guitar bar:Holz from:01/08/2003 till:01/06/2007 color:Back width:3 bar:Holz from:01/10/2014 till:end color:Back width:3 bar:Kiefer from:01/01/2015 till:end color:keyboards bar:Hees from:01/06/2015 till:end color:Drums

Discography

Studio albums

* '' Fool's Garden'' (1991) * '' Once in a Blue Moon'' (1993) * '' Dish of the Day'' (1995) * '' Go and Ask Peggy for the Principal Thing'' (1997) * '' For Sale'' (2000) * '' 25 Miles to Kissimmee'' (2003) * ''Ready for the Real Life'' (2005) * ''Who Is Jo King?'' (2012) * ''Flashback'' (2015) * ''Rise and Fall'' (2018) * ''Captain... Coast Is Clear'' (2021)

Live albums

* ''Best of Unplugged – Live'' (2009)

Compilation albums

* '' High Times – The Best of Fools Garden'' (2009) * ''The Lost Tapes Vol. 1'' (2018)

EPs

* ''Home'' (2008) * ''Lemon Tree'' (2024)

Awards and nominations

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * *

External links

Fanclub websites

Band's fanclub

Official German Fanclub of Fools Garden
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Other pages

Official website

Official Italian website

Advertising agency of Thomas Mangold and Roland Röhl

Fools Garden on Spotify

Fools Garden on SoundCloud

{{Authority control German rock music groups Musical groups established in 1991 Musical groups from Baden-Württemberg 1991 establishments in Germany English-language musical groups from Germany