The Pretty Maids, a Danish hard rock band, originated in 1981 when vocalist Ronnie Atkins and guitarist Ken Hammer joined forces. They soon added guitarist Pete Collins, bassist John Darrow, and drummer Phil More, after which a demo tape landed them a deal with British label Bullet and yielded the self-titled debut EP in 1983. That year the group also served as support for Black Sabbath across Scandinavia. After Collins was replaced by guitarist Ricky Hansson and Darrow by bassist Allan Delong, the band cut its first full-length album for CBS, Red, Hot and Heavy, released in 1984. Hansson’s stint proved brief, so Collins rejoined for a tour that ran through 1985. Two years later the Pretty Maids returned with Future World. While tracking the follow-up, drummer More suffered severe injuries in a car crash, pushing the release of Jump the Gun back to 1990. A series of departures left only Atkins and Hammer by year’s end; they recruited bassist Kenn Jackson and drummer Michael Fast for Sin-Decade, issued in 1992, which scored a major European and Japanese hit with the single “Please Don't Leave Me.” The acoustic album Stripped appeared in 1993, followed by Scream in 1994 and the band’s first official live release, Screamin' Live, in 1995. Later records include Spooked (1997) and Anything Worth Doing Is Worth Overdoing (1999).
