The 1980s were a heady time for Duran Duran. Supermodel girlfriends, Aston Martin sports cars, expensive videos shoots in Antigua and as much cocaine as they could possibly hoover. Fast forward 25 years and things aren’t quite as easy for the New Romantic survivors. Sure, these 40-somethings can still make the ladies swoon, and they are still a huge concert draw, but unlike in their heyday, convincing people to buy new Duran Duran material is a tough sell. Even convincing their record label to release new material is difficult, as Duran Duran found out earlier this year when Epic Records declined to put out an album the band had been working on for a year. While singer Simon LeBon said in a previous statement that it was the band’s decision not to release the album, drummer Roger Taylor sets the record straight. “[The label] said it was good,” he says, “but they couldn’t hear any radio songs, so they turned it down.”

The discarded songs were inspired by such bands as The Killers and The Rapture, who themselves were responsible for bringing Duran-style synths back to the mainstream. “It’s disappointing when your record is turned down, but we knew in our hearts that it was the album that we needed,” says Taylor. “It wasn’t going to set the world alight, but there are some good songs on it, and hopefully we can release it in the future.”

In the meantime, the band went back to the drawing board and called on some high-powered fans to help them out. “We met Justin Timberlake at the Brit Awards,” he says. “He presented an award to us and said he was a fan and would love to work with us.”

Super-producer and Timberlake pal Timbaland also expressed interest in working with the British four-piece. “He wanted to work with a band that was open-minded,” Taylor says. “We’re pretty open-minded about the way we make music. We’re not like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, we don’t turn up and just start playing. We’re interested in electronics and programming and pushing those boundaries.”

The result of those new sessions is the band’s 13th album, Red Carpet Massacre, which was released on Epic earlier this month. The album debuted at a decent Number 36 on the Billboard music chart. Whether it continues to sell remains to be seen, but Duran Duran can still rely on a loyal fan base eager to see them perform live. The group recently sold-out a London show in less than five minutes and just finished a hugely successful run at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on Broadway.

“It’s probably the first time a band has done a show like that on Broadway,” says Taylor. “It was more of an evening with Duran Duran. We played the whole of the new album in the first act. After the intermission, we played an electro set, sort of Kraftwerk-style instrumentals, and then the classic section of the show where we played our older songs.”

Taylor originally left the band in the late ’80s to spend more time with his family. He rejoined in 2001 and says the response has been amazing.

“The timing was just right. For a long time in the ’90s, it was not cool to like us. Suddenly, we’re name-checked by all these new bands and we became quite hip again. It’s been an amazing few years.”