Gold Digger~ With True Love~ by Toshiki Kadomatsu 1985

Following the momentum of the success After 5 Clash brought him, Toshiki Kadomatsu (角松敏生) buckled down to further develop his nighttime pop sound inspired by The New York clubbing scene with the release of 1985's Gold Digger~ With True Love~.  To accomplish his vision, Kadomatsu would co-produce this album with  Michael Brauer, a veteran music engineer who's worked with everyone from James Brown to Aerosmith. The album had a bigger emphasis on hip shop elements such as rap, spinning, and scratching, which were all relatively new to the Japanese pop scene at the time. The only other Japanese hip-hop-oriented album at that point was Motoharu Sano's Visitors in 1984. The record also featured talented musicians like the drumming legend Yogi Horton,  saxophonist Jake H. Concepcion, bassist Tomohito Aoki, and backing vocals by city pop singers Noriko Miyamoto and Yurie Kokubu. Gold Digger ended up being his first album to rank in the top 10 of the Oricon album charts.  

THE MUSIC

1. I Can't Stop The Night  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
2. Springin' Night  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
3. Move Your Hips All Night Long  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
4. Secret Lover ⭐⭐⭐⭐
5. Melody For You ⭐⭐⭐⭐
6. Tokyo Tower ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
7. Prajñā (Violence In The Subway) ⭐⭐⭐ 
8.  Mermaid Princess ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
9.  It's Too Late ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 
10.  No End Summer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

THE VERDICT

Kadomatsu upped the ante so much that comparing Gold Digger to his previous album, After 5 Clash, is like comparing A New Hope to Empire Strikes Back. Everything you loved about the first entry has been taken up to 11 with an edgier tone. Right off the bat, the record opens up with a woman walking into her significant other cheating on her, and promptly shooting him! A far cry from the sparkly opening guitar riffs we're used to hearing. I can't even think of a Rap album that begins so abruptly! Kadomatsu is basically letting us know that this is the type of party where you boogie like there's no tomorrow, and it definitely delivers with a frontload of consistent bangers, from the hedonistic opening track I Can't Stop the Night, to the funky and bouncy horn section in Springin' Night, to the sexy rocking of Move Your Hips All Night Long. There's definitely a heavier emphasis on hip-hop in this album with various record scratching and scrubbing littered throughout. Secret Lover takes cues from Austrian singer FALCO's hit single "Rock Me Amadeus" and Tokyo Tower features rap verses by Shahiem from the obscure hip-hop group The Infinity Rappers. There's also room for some more familiar City Pop territory, Mermaid Princess is easily one of Toshiki's best ballads, and the closing song, No End Summer is a quintessential nostalgic summer pop tune on par with anything from Tatsuro Yamashita's Big Wave album. Whether you're on the dance floor, or reminiscing at the beach,  Gold Digger~ With True Love~  Toshiki Kadomatsu at his peak in terms of pop music.