Tempting Fate
After Silent Witness the next band I joined was Tempting Fate and this was the first band I actually made any money with. All previous attempts at making money were usually absorbed with the hire of a PA company - the most I ever made was £7 at some hole I can't remember!
Tempting fate consisted of Mark (vocals), Paul (aka 'Tat'), Martin #1 (Bass) and Martin #2 (drums) and some other guy (lead guitar, not called Martin!) who was at my audition but immediately quit when it was announced I'd got the job - he didn't like keyboards apparently - well sorry, mate. It was Martin the drummer who got me the audition when they decided they needed keyboards to enhance their original (and very good) compositions.
We rehearsed at Rich Bitch at Selly Oak and I had two weeks to learn their entire set. Our first gig was a private function at a sailing club on Icknield Street off the Dudley Road. We then gigged at various social clubs mainly around the black country area (as Tat and Mark were from here and did most of the gig-getting work). We made one demo tape with tracks 'Find A Way' and 'Sometimes' both penned by Mark and Tat.
One bittersweet memory I have of Tempting Fate was coming home one night to find my house burgled and my Korg DW8000 keyboard gone. The band were very understanding and Mark bought his recently purchased Roland RD250 Piano and S10 Sampler to gigs so I had something to play on. Find A Way below features the DW and the live track features the Rolands. I was uninsured at the time and It took me a while to get funds to get new gear. Sadly by the time I had (and got me Korg's new flagship M1 keyboard) the band had folded.
In 1989 Tempting fate disbanded as Tat wanted to moonlight with another social club band 'Jump the Gun' (who were making more money than us!) and Mark decided he wanted to get a steady job (I believe he eventually joined the Police force). Our last gig was at Wilnecote Working Men's Club in Tamworth, most memorable for the fact that Martin (drums) had forgotten his hi-hat stand and rather than tell anybody was going back home to get it (about 20m away) he just fucked off and we were left completely clueless. In fact we had to play the first half of our set without any drums at all. Dancing In The Dark by Bruce Springsteen just doesn't work without drums!!!
No pictures of this band unfortunately. If you have any contact me.
music clips:-
Tempting Fate - I Can't Make It On My Own [LIVE]
(c) copyright belongs to Mark Hale and Paul Hughes
After leaving the band Tempting Fate and a short rest I briefly joined rock band The Ragged Edge.
This page was last edited 03/06/2007