Erstwhile Duran Duran guitarist Andy Taylor has written a book, Wild Boy: My Life in Duran Duran, about his meteoric rise to stardom and the ensuing debauchery that took place at the height of 1980’s Duran Duran pandemonium as well as his return to the fold 15 years later. His take on the action is probably the most newsworthy and intriguing of anyone’s in the band because of his tumultuous relationship with the Duran Duran brand. Taylor notoriously (see what I did there?) quit the group to pursue a solo career in 1986, hoping to cash in on his world-wide fame (whoops). His return in 2001 marked a resurgence for Duran Duran, who had floundered as a trio as the 90’s waned. In a recent interview for the book’s launch, Taylor revealed his reasons for quitting the group for a second time after a successful reunion tour and album, as the band attempted a follow-up:

We delivered the album to Sony and they rejected it. I knew it wasn’t ready. Roger and I didn’t want to present it but the rest of them did. There was a problem with our writing. Sony is a very difficult label. We didn’t have the capacity to look at what we were doing wrong and they wanted to outsource us to Timbaland. I wasn’t prepared to play to a drum machine or get a songwriter in. They made the worst-selling Duran record ever and it had nothing to do with me. Once the creative relationship went wrong, that was it for me. 

His reasoning is exactly as I had suspected and should shut the Duran apologists up.

Meanwhile, the remaining foursome are still peddling the DOA Red Carpet Massacre with some North American dates to close out the year:

December 1 San Antonio, TX Majestic Theatre
December 2 Grand Prairie, TX Nokia Theatre
December 4 Tulsa, OK Brady Theater
December 5 Houston, TX Verizon Wireless Theater
December 6 Biloxi, MS Beau Rivage Theatre
December 8 Columbus, OH Schottenstein Center
December 9* Toronto, ONT Air Canada Centre
December 10* Montreal, QC Metropolis
December 12 Mashantucket, CT MGM Grand Foxwoods Casino
December 13 Atlantic City, NJ House of Blues (@ The Showboat)
December 14 Montclair, NJ Wellmont Theatre