Valet Parking is the project of German maestro Thomas Fuchsberger. This one came out in 1988, and is a super-smooth slice of AOR.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Valet Parking
ALBUM: Valet Parking
LABEL: Titan
SERIAL: 2111-1
YEAR: 1988
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Germany
LINEUP: Thomas Fuchsberger – vocals, keyboards, bass, drums * Robby Musenbichler – guitars, bass * Ken Thomas – bass * Christian Felke – saxophone * Amy Zahedi – background vocals * Jo Retiz – flugelhorn
TRACK LISTING: 01 See You At Spago * 02 Let Me Out * 03 Mr Dark * 04 My One And Only * 05 Come On Down Angel * 06 Boy Toy * 07 Bad Girl * 08 Pretty Bijou * 09 The Right People At The Right Time * 10 Thank You For This Dance
WEBLINKS: Site Link
Background
Valet Parking is the project of German maestro Thomas Fuchsberger. This one came out in 1988, and is a super-smooth slice of AOR. In fact, it is so smooth that a comparison to an aural version of cappucino is what you get with Valet Parking. If the car on the front cover is enough to go by, then a mix of super smooth and hi-tech/high class is an apt description.
Musically, take a dab of Zappacosta, Toto, and Euro/UK bands like Go West, A-Ha and fellow German West Coaster Beau Heart and the end result is something like this. It is very radio friendly, but has less reliance of cutting edge electric guitars, preferring instead to let other instruments like keyboards and saxophone come to the surface.
The Songs
The main musician of note outside of Fuchsberger is guitarist Robby Musenbichler, who has had stints with the bands Tokyo and Toto clones Jojo. His influence is not as obvious on Valet Parking as the arrangements are very laid back with little in the way of fiery guitar solos.
The stand out tracks for me are the opener ‘See You At Spago’, the excellent ‘Mr Dark’, and the very Go West flavoured ‘Bad Girl’. Plenty of parpy keyboards can be heard on ‘The Right People At The Right Time’, while the only evidence of a guitar solo can be heard on the upbeat and pumping ‘Let Me Out’. For once Musenbichler gets to let rip though it is only fleeting.
Mostly, the laid back arrangements and smooth musicianship prevail. Tailor-made late night listening for sure, in tandem with your cappucino!
In Summary
Valet Parking is a definite studio outing, as not much has been heard outside of this, though Thomas does have a website (see above). Occasionally you’ll see this on E-Bay going for very high prices. Better yet, all of the tracks are on YouTube. I’ve put a link to the entire album, click the video below.
Valet Parking is good for what it is but one would hardly call it classic AOR. This one has been on the list of Collectors for ages, I shouldn’t think that will have changed after having listened to it myself. Pleasant enough listening though, perhaps a touch over-produced, and a true 80’s album if ever there was one with many of these songs ideal candidates for 80’s MTV at least.
Video
See You At Spago
Entire Album (Select Tracks)
