Stories of Johnny

Marc Almond hit a new post-Soft Cell commercial high with Stories of Johnny, with far more peaks to come, and while “Tainted Love” was an unrepeatable achievement, Stories showed fully that Almond could achieve plenty in his own right as both songwriter and interpreter. The latter showed up with a sweet, kicky cover of the Mel Torme standard “The House is Haunted,” but his originals, like the cascading sweet sorrow of the title track and the vivid sentiments of the energetic “Love Letter,” were no less striking, all with a mixed classic and modern pop energy.