AND NOW HERE’S THE NEWS: Give R.E.M....

AND NOW HERE’S THE NEWS: Give R.E.M. credit. For a band who never recruited a tacky, big-bucks tour sponsor or made a cheesy video with half-naked pop tarts, the group managed to land quite a lucrative new record contract. Its five-album Warner Bros. deal, sources say, earns the group as much as $2 million per album (that’s $10 million total). Plus the band is said to also have been guaranteed full CD royalties and full mechanicals, while its master recordings revert to the group after 10 years--all perks available only to the most blue-chip rock outfits. Our humble guess is that Warners really wanted this band. . . . The Warners label has also hung on to Rod Stewart, who’s back May 24 with a new album titled “Out of Order.” The record features funksters Bernard Edwards and Tony Thompson--and ex-Duran Duran guitarist Andy Taylor. The first single (due out this week) is “Lost in You,” and other songs slated to make the final cut include “My Heart Can’t Tell Me No,” a rocked-up version of “Nobody Loves You ‘Till You’re Down and Out” and the Otis Redding gem, “Try a Little Tenderness.” . . . Dwight Yoakam is back in the studio this week, cutting a duet with longtime idol, Buck Owens. The new song, “Streets of Bakersfield,” should be on Yoakam’s next record, due out this summer. . . . We’re still trying to find out what happened to Run-D.M.C.’s tough-guy rap film, “Tougher Than Leather.” But you can find the first single from the project, “Run’s House,” in the stores this week (backed with another new tune, “Beats to the Rhyme”). . . . And watch for the Georgia Satellites to return next month, with a new album called “Open All Night.” Tunes include “My Babe” and “Tell My Fortune.”