when I first started using narrow HPs and Mavic Module E/E2 rims (or Rigida AL1320) the Michelin Yellow plastic rim tape was the only tape that was widely available that would work at all. However every single one I ever had cracked sooner or later. Later I had the choice of Velox rim tape too but I didn't use that for years, reckoning that
a) on a touring rim a roadside spoke replacement might require removal of the rim tape, and it mightn't stick well enough afterwards to be any good for anything
b) on a training bike rim the inner eyelets would always rust, and the acidic rusty water would rot the fabric.
Given that I thought I'd 'solved' the problem with the Michelin tapes by simple expedient of adding a couple of layers of lasso tape (thicker than normal PVC insulation tape) on top of the Michelin tape, and the Michelin tapes were lighter too, I didn't bother using the Velox tape for a long time. However, although both concerns about the velox tape were legitimate, the former is incredibly rare and the latter takes a very long time to occur; rust staining seems to have to be severe and prolonged before the tape is likely to fail; it is a good deal more rot-proof than most other cloth rim tapes.
Eventually the reinforced Michelin tape strategy bit me in the arse; I fitted some folding tyres to my touring bike and these were a much tighter fit than my usual fare. When these tyres deflated (eg in storage) these tyre beads dragged at the (by now at least ten years old, brittle, and cantankerous) lasso tape, making longitudinal creases in it. These creases then cracked and the cracked edges then started slicing into the inner tube. This resulted in what was probably 'my worst ever day for punctures' in which I only just managed to limp to my destination, having spent hours wrestling with tubes, patches, rim tapes etc. Had I not had the remains of a roll of insulation tape in my saddlebag I would have been stuck.
Rim tapes seem to be a source of more problems than they should be; Velox tapes are pretty good (BTW at home I restick them using cheap spray adhesive, should they ever have to be disturbed) but they are very slightly thicker than some plastic tapes, and this causes problems in some cases. There are plenty of rims where the manufacturers clearly intended a narrow rim tape to be fitted, which sits only in the lower part of the rim well. However this is hardly ever perfectly reliable in double-walled rims; all too often the edge of the rim tape moves away from the drillings in the inner wall (or gets dragged into them) and punctures ensue. A wider tape which goes over the rim shoulders too is always more reliable; it is trapped beneath the tyre beads and is less likely to move. However in some cases the added thickness of the rim tape is enough to make the tyres a tight fit. Tubeless rim tape is sometimes thinner by enough to make a difference here. I don't know that any of it is any good if it has to be disturbed 'in the field' (eg in the event of spoke breakage near the nipple) though.
Anyway if Roger could say what rims, tape, and tyres (old and new) he is using it might be that someone has used a similar combination and can comment. Arguably I got bitten in the bum by tyres that were tighter than normal; these caused a previously reliable rim tape to move around in a way that I hadn't anticipated.
cheers