January 25, 1991

WHEN the 1980's departed, it was not only the Trump yacht and Drexel Burnham Lambert that sailed into the sunset. Somewhat less conspicuously, the theater's own symbol of a money-crazed decade -- the over-produced English musical -- began its inexorable retreat to the wings. Built on opulent stage effects, London's theatrical spectaculars were as symptomatic of the money-mad 80's as a Malcolm Forbes birthday bash, and in the 1990's, their party, too, seems to be over. In the nearly two years since "Aspects of Love" opened in the West End, no new Andrew Lloyd Webber project has gone much past the press-release stage in New York, London or Hollywood. The only smash hit "English" musical still in the pipeline to New York, "Miss Saigon," is in fact the work of French and American authors. And whatever that production's merits prove to be in its New York incarnation, doesn't it already feel like old news?

A.T.& T. announced yesterday that its earnings were nearly flat in the fourth quarter. The loss of tax credits, higher interest expenses and reduced gains from cash investments and asset sales offset a strong increase in operating profits. Two of the seven regional Bell companies created by the breakup of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company in 1984 also reported fourth-quarter results yesterday. U S West posted a tiny gain in profits, while Nynex reported that profits from operations fell slightly. Nynex also announced a one-time after-tax loss of $211 million, mostly to cover losses and reorganization costs in subsidiaries selling equipment and software to businesses.

GERRY KORNBLAU, a folk-art dealer, had a difficult assignment: installing his 20-foot carved wood and gilded trade sign depicting the Winchester Model 73 -- the gun that won the West -- on the back wall of his booth at the Winter Antiques Show in the Seventh Regiment Armory. "It's 20 feet of solid lumber and there is a lot of bulk to it," Mr. Kornblau said. "It weighs 250 pounds." But, he said, "desire is the most important element in conquering a problem -- even when hanging a rifle."

The American Express Company reported yesterday that its net income had dropped 46.4 percent in the fourth quarter and 84.6 percent for all of 1990, because of a loss of nearly $1 billion on the year at its troubled Wall Street brokerage house, Shearson Lehman Brothers. American Express said it had earned $137.9 million, or 28 cents a share, in the fourth quarter, compared with $257.2 million, or 61 cents a share, a year earlier. Fourth-quarter revenue declined less than 1 percent, to $6.3 billion, compared with $6.32 billion a year earlier.

Jimmie Boyd Sr. barely earns enough as an auto mechanic to feed and clothe his family, but when his 14-year-old son, Jimmie Jr., pleaded for $18 to go to a heavy-metal concert here last weekend, he acquiesced. He drove his son to the Salt Palace, where the Australian group AC/DC was performing, and returned later to pick him up at the appointed corner. No Jimmie.