Fool’s Garden is a German rock/pop band. Fool’s Garden was founded in Pforzheim, Germany in 1989 by singer Peter Freudenthaler (born 23 March 1968) and his two friends, Volker Hinkel (guitar; born 18 October 1967) and Thomas Mangold (bass; born 20 December 1966).
They chose the name Fool’s Garden in honor of a band that was successful in the 1970s.
It all started when Peter Freudenthaler and Volker Hinkel played together in a band called The 23 Beds. Although this band was not very successful, Peter and Volker decided to work together again. In 1989, Fool’s Garden was founded.
The Fool’s Garden members – Freudenthaler (vocals and guitar), Hinkel (guitar) and Mangold (bass), as well as keyboard player Michael Schüler and drummer Thomas Spiegel – rapidly became a fixture on the burgeoning international neo-progressive rock scene, helped by the fact that German record label Dream Circle, which specializes in neo-prog, signed them up.
Fool’s Garden’s debut album Fool’s Garden (1995) was a minor hit in Germany and received a fair amount of radio airplay, but it was their second album Dish Of Fruit (1996) that brought Fool’s Garden attention outside Germany when “Lemon Tree” from that album became a surprise international hit. In Germany, Fool’s Garden continued to be one of the most popular rock bands, selling records by the truckload.
