Danish hard rock band the Pretty Maids was formed in 1981 by singer Ronnie Atkins and guitarist Ken Hammer; adding guitarist Pete Collins, ba**ist John Darrow and drummer Phil More, the group recorded a demo which earned them a contract with the British label Bullet, resulting in the 1983 release of their self-titled debut EP. That same year the Pretty Maids supported Black Sabbath on their tour of Scandinavia, and after replacing Collins with guitarist Ricky Hansson and Darrow with ba**ist Allan Delong, the band entered the studio to record their first LP for new label CBS, 1984's Red, Hot and Heavy. Hansson's tenure proved short-lived, however, and Collins returned to the line-up for a tour lasting through 1985; two years later, the Pretty Maids resurfaced with Future World. While recording the follow-up, drummer More was severely injured in a car crash, and the resulting LP Jump the Gun did not appear until 1990; by the end of the year a series of defections reduced the roster to the original duo of Atkins and Hammer, who recruited ba**ist Kenn Jackson and drummer Michael Fast to cut 1992's Sin-Decade, scoring a major hit in Europe and Japan with the single "Please Don't Leave Me." An acoustic effort, Stripped, appeared in 1993, followed a year later by Scream; in 1995, the Pretty Maids also issued their first official live record, Screamin' Live. Subsequent releases include 1997's Spooked and 1999's Anything Worth Doing Is Worth Overdoing. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide