Fehlfarben

Monarchie und Alltag appeared in 1980 as Die Fehlfarben’s opening long-player and ranks among the central documents of Neue Deutsche Welle, Germany’s parallel movement to new wave. After its release the group never regained a fixed identity, enduring continual membership turnover and sporadic periods of activity; although the record initially met with indifference, its reputation expanded steadily until it earned acknowledgment as a foundational pillar of contemporary German rock and received an expanded reissue in 2000. Despite decades of esteem, the band secured only one genuine chart success, the Monarchie und Alltag track “Ein Jahr (Es Geht Voran),” which EMI unexpectedly propelled into the Top 20 in 1982 by re-releasing it as a single amid the Neue Deutsche Welle surge.

Die Fehlfarben trace their origins to the earliest stirrings of German punk in 1977. Assembled from participants in the Düsseldorf scene, the unit launched as a ska-oriented ensemble modeled on 2 Tone, shifted toward post-punk for Monarchie und Alltag, then edged into new wave during the first half of the 1980s before entering hiatus in 1985, at which point a single founding member remained. From 1991 onward the original members reconvened with growing regularity, enjoying the belated critical reassessment of their role in shaping modern German rock. Two decades after their debut, a shared recognition of Die Fehlfarben’s pioneering work, above all on Monarchie und Alltag, finally crystallized.

In 1979 the musicians formed Die Fehlfarben in Düsseldorf from the remnants of Mittagspause, the influential punk trio consisting of Peter Hein on vocals, Franz Bielmeier on guitar, and Markus Oehlen on drums. Those three had already established Germany’s first punk band, Charleys Girls, in 1977—an episode recorded in the 2005 documentary Charleys Girls, which surveys the Düsseldorf punk milieu centered on the Ratinger Hof between 1977 and 1979. When Mittagspause dissolved in 1979, Bielmeier, already prominent in the local scene through his editorship of the pioneering German punk fanzine The Ostrich, founded the independent Rondo-Label and operated it until 1981. Hein and Oehlen instead assembled Die Fehlfarben as a post-punk outfit, recruiting Thomas Schwebel (guitar), who had performed with both Mittagspause and S.Y.P.H.; Michael Kemner (bass), formerly of the D.A.F. collective; Frank Fenstermacher (saxophone); and Uwe Bauer (drums), another former Mittagspause associate who had also played alongside Schwebel.

The concept for the band crystallized during a November 1979 visit to England, where Hein, Schwebel, Bauer, and Oehlen absorbed the ska-punk sound then dominating London via 2 Tone. They resolved to transplant that approach to Germany and, upon returning, launched Die Fehlfarben and issued the double-sided ska-punk 7-inch Abenteuer und Freiheit (“Abenteuer und Freiheit” b/w “Große Liebe”) in December on their own Welt-Rekord-Label. The name “Fehlfarben,” literally “erroneous colors,” drew inspiration equally from the black-and-white checkerboard graphics associated with 2 Tone—the sleeve of Abenteuer und Freiheit itself paid homage to that motif—and from Hein’s day job at Xerox. In January 1980, after brief rehearsals, the band made its live debut in Mannheim dressed in the period’s ska-punk attire of suits; additional concerts followed that spring, during which new material was introduced and the stylistic focus broadened beyond ska. That July, EMI approached the group with an offer to acquire Welt-Rekord-Label and place Die Fehlfarben under contract. Although the arrangement contradicted punk orthodoxy, the musicians accepted and thereby gained access to a professional studio.

Those late-summer sessions at the EMI facility yielded Monarchie und Alltag, released in October 1980. By then the lineup had shifted slightly: Bauer remained the sole drummer, while George Nicolaidis and Kurt Dahlke—also known as Der Pyrolator—were credited with synthesizers. Contemporary reviews were overwhelmingly dismissive, and the punk community continued to resent the major-label affiliation; sales remained modest despite EMI’s backing. With an extensive tour already scheduled for early 1981, vocalist Peter Hein confronted an untenable dilemma between his Xerox position and the uncertain prospects of the band. Unable to reconcile prolonged absences with his professional responsibilities, he departed immediately before the tour, forcing cancellations. Saxophonist Frank Fenstermacher likewise exited at that juncture. After an extended search for a replacement vocalist proved fruitless, guitarist Thomas Schwebel assumed lead vocals and leadership, aided by the arrival of guitarist Uwe Jahnke, another S.Y.P.H. alumnus. The reconstituted lineup stabilized by spring, at which point the band issued the single “Das Wort Ist Draußen” b/w “Wie Bitte Was?!” and resumed performing, gradually rebuilding momentum. In May, Monarchie und Alltag entered the German album chart.

That summer Die Fehlfarben recorded their second album, 33 Tage in Ketten, which also charted. By year’s end both Monarchie und Alltag and 33 Tage in Ketten had reached the Top 40, though bassist Michael Kemner had departed following the sessions. Hans Maahn took his place, and the new configuration released the one-off single “14 Tage” b/w “Feuer an Bord” in early 1982 to mark the transition. NME awarded “14 Tage” its Single of the Week designation and remained a steadfast advocate, repeatedly hailing Monarchie und Alltag as a landmark. Responding to that endorsement, EMI reissued “Ein Jahr (Es Geht Voran)” from the 1980 album; the track, propelled by a disco-funk bass line reminiscent of Chic and comparable within the band’s catalog to Gang of Four’s “I Love a Man in Uniform,” climbed unexpectedly into the Top 20 in 1982. Its resurgence coincided with the commercial peak of Neue Deutsche Welle. Die Fehlfarben toured Central Europe throughout spring and summer 1982 and entered the studio in September to commence work on their third album, Glut und Asche.

Recording extended through December 1982. With the core reduced to Schwebel, Jahnke, and Bauer, the sessions incorporated numerous additional studio musicians and produced a more expansive sound. Issued in March 1983, Glut und Asche reached number 42 on the album chart—lower than its predecessors yet still respectable—and Musikexpress named it Platte des Monats. No tour accompanied the release, possibly reflecting its studio-oriented character; instead the band constructed its own facility in Wuppertal that summer. Sporadic live activity resumed in 1984 after bassist Hellmuth Hattler and drummer Martin Schwebel joined. Relations with EMI had deteriorated irreparably, so the tracks recorded at the Wuppertal studio throughout 1984 remained unreleased for a decade; they eventually appeared in 1995 as Popmusik & Hundezucht, credited jointly to Thomas Schwebel & Fehlfarben. The final 12-inch single issued during this period, “Keine Ruhige Minute” b/w “Der Himmel Weint,” marked the end of new output for five years.

The original members—Hein, Schwebel, Kemner, Bauer, and Fenstermacher—reconvened to record Die Platte des Himmlischen Frieden, released by WEA in 1991. Although reviews were mixed, the reunion generated renewed interest among longtime supporters. A live album, Live, followed in 1993 without Fenstermacher and with the addition of guitarist Rolf Kirschbaum and multi-instrumentalist Andreas Proff; the 1995 collection Popmusik & Hundezucht appeared next. In 1998 the band issued Es Geht Voran, a 17-track retrospective drawn from the 1980–1985 Welt-Rekord-Label era.

At the turn of the century, post-punk and new wave experienced a resurgence in Germany and elsewhere. Coincidentally, Monarchie und Alltag attained gold certification in 2000 precisely as it was being reevaluated as a cornerstone of modern German rock. The album came to be regarded as Die Fehlfarben’s equivalent of Gang of Four’s Entertainment!, a debut whose stature rose markedly during the early-2000s post-punk revival. EMI capitalized on the renewed attention with an October 2000 reissue that offered remastered audio and bonus material, including the 1979 ska single Abenteuer und Freiheit. Remastered editions of 33 Tage in Ketten and Glut und Asche followed in 2003, each augmented with relevant non-album tracks.

Aware of the revived interest, the musicians capitalized by reuniting once more for Knietief im Dispo, issued in 2002 by the French dance-oriented label !K7. Most original members participated—Hein, Schwebel, Kemner, and Fenstermacher—alongside occasional contributors Jahnke and Pyrolator and new drummer Saskia von Klitzing. The album achieved modest commercial success, becoming the first Fehlfarben release to chart since 1983, and received generally favorable notices despite inevitable comparisons with the classic lineup. Following the comeback, the band signed with V2 Records and debuted on the label with the guest-filled 26 1/2 in 2006, which featured collaborations with numerous prominent German rock musicians. A subsequent studio album, Handbuch für die Welt, appeared in 2007 alongside a 19-date German tour.