‘80s Redux on the Rack

Stroll past the new release rack at record stores this week and you may feel like you’re stepping back in time to the 1980s: You’ll find new discs from R.E.M., the Go-Go’s, Depeche Mode and the Cowboy Junkies.

How viable are these veteran acts in today’s changing pop music climate? The stakes for each vary: R.E.M., for example, has not been lighting it up commercially in recent years, but is still signed to Warner Bros. Records with a world-class contract, while the Cowboy Junkies have lost their major-label status and are staking out the path of an indie band these days. The Go-Go’s are back with their first album since the Reagan era, while Depeche Mode has been away for four years.

Geoff Mayfield, director of charts for Billboard, says that the electronic dance sensibilities of Depeche Mode may help that band connect with younger music fans in the same way that Madonna has rewired her career with dance beats in recent years.

The Go-Go’s look to be the wild cards, but Mayfield said the high-interest entry on the list is R.E.M., a band that has a history marked by artistic and commercial peaks but which has seen each of its last three albums sink lower on the sales chart.

“I think a lot of people are curious about R.E.M.,” Mayfield said. “Frankly, none of their recent records has generated a lot [of sales]. . . . Their fan base is absolutely aware that this record is coming out, but to really get the substantial numbers, you have to reach beyond your fan base. All eyes will be on R.E.M.”

Dobbs Returns to Head of ‘Line’

Can Lou Dobbs bring CNN’s “Moneyline” back to dominance? Dobbs, who anchored the show for 19 years before leaving in 1999 in a spat with his bosses, returns to the host chair today, bringing with him a new format for what’s now called “Lou Dobbs Moneyline.”

The no-longer-so-hot stock markets will be less of a focus this time around, as the hourlong show, which airs weekdays at 3:30 p.m. (with 8:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. reruns of the first half-hour), broadens its sights.

“The new format means somewhat longer segments, so we can go broader and deeper with our reporting,” said Dobbs. Finance, politics and current events, including taxes, education, energy, science and technology, will be covered more heavily. “All these things have an influence on the economy and the quality of life of our viewers,” Dobbs added.

CNN hopes Dobbs will bring back the 23% of its viewers who have fled the show since he left. But the program is also getting more competition, as rival CNBC today adds a half-hour to its already 90-minute “Business Center.” The show will now be seen weekdays from 3 to 5 p.m.

All ‘Eyes’ Are on Lopez

Although critics might quibble with her choices since “Out of Sight,” Jennifer Lopez remains a force to be reckoned with. “Angel Eyes,” her latest starring vehicle, a romantic thriller co-starring Jim Caviezel, opens this week.

In the film, Lopez plays a police officer who, while pursuing a suspect one night, nearly becomes the victim of a fatal ambush--until a mysterious stranger, Catch (Caviezel), intervenes, disarms the assassin and saves her life. The pair fall in love and it becomes clear they have met before.

Judging by her last film, the romantic comedy “The Wedding Planner,” as well as “The Cell” before that, Lopez has proved she can open a movie. Although “Wedding Planner” garnered so-so reviews, it generated more than $60.4 million at the box office and remained in the No. 1 slot for two weeks, according to box office tracking service Exhibitor Relations, slipping only to second place in its third weekend.

Everything Lopez touches lately turns to gold, with not only her movies scoring big but also her albums. She’s also on the cover of next month’s Vanity Fair. Lopez has successfully managed to cultivate an image both as the street-smart, hip-hop chick and the all-American movie queen.

Next she will star in “Enough,” a Columbia Pictures thriller directed by Michael Apted and produced by Irwin Winkler. She plays a woman who discovers that her husband is prone to violence and abuse. She flees with her infant daughter but he tracks her down. Determined not to remain a victim, she begins learning martial arts.

Don’t be surprised if the movie catches the popularity wave of chicks kicking butt that made last year’s “Charlie’s Angels” and “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” such big hits.

--Compiled by Times staff writers