Pretty Maids is a Danish heavy metal band from Horsens. Formed in late 1981, the group's original full lineup featured vocalist Ronnie Atkins, guitarists Ken Hammer and Pete Collins, bassist John Darrow, drummer Phil Moorheed and keyboardist Alan Owen. The group currently includes Atkins and Hammer, alongside drummer Allan Tschicaja (from 2006 to 2017, and since 2020), bassist Rene Shades (since 2011), and keyboardist/guitarist Chris Laney (since 2016).
Pretty Maids was formed during 1981 by guitarist Ken Hammer, who initially worked with vocalist and bassist John Jakobsen. [1] By the "latter part" of the year, Hammer had relaunched the band with new members Ronnie Atkins on vocals, Pete Collins on second guitar, John Darrow on bass, Phil Moorheed on drums, and Alan Owen on keyboards. [2] This lineup recorded and released the band's first demo, Heavy Metal, and a self-titled EP, both in 1983. [3] [4] In April 1984, Collins left and Darrow was sacked, with the pair replaced not long after by Rick Hanson and Allan Delong, respectively. [5] The new lineup released the group's full-length debut Red Hot and Heavy , before Hanson was dismissed as he was "more into melodic/pop metal, which was not good for the band", according to Hammer. [6] Hanson was replaced by Benny Petersen for a short tour of Denmark in October 1984, before Collins returned before the end of the year. [5] By the time Pretty Maids started work on their second album in early 1986, Collins had left again. [7]
After releasing their second album Future World in April 1987, Pretty Maids added former Sinner band Gerhart "Angel" Schleifer as a replacement for Pete Collins. [7] He remained until the end of the album's initial touring cycle in early 1988, when he left to join German group Bonfire, with his place in Pretty Maids taken by Ricky Marx. [8] During the mixing of the band's third album Jump the Gun in September 1989, Owen chose to leave, as "he didn't feel comfortable with the stylistic and visual part of being in a band", according to Atkins; he was replaced by Dominic Gale on a session and touring basis. [8] Jump the Gun was eventually released in April 1990, followed that November by the Christmas EP In Santa's Claws; after a short tour running into December, Marx, Delong and Moorheed all left Pretty Maids. [8]
In early 1991, Atkins and Hammer rebuilt Pretty Maids with the additions of Kenn Jackson on bass and Michael Fast Petersen on drums. [9] This four-piece lineup remained constant throughout the 1990s, releasing a string of albums including their first live release, Screamin' Live. [10] Gale and Owen provided session keyboards during this period. [11] [12] Jan Møller took over touring duties from Gale after the release of Spooked in 1997. [13] In early 2001, the band toured with Jørgen Thorup on keyboards, [14] before Møller returned later that year. [13] After a couple of inactive years, Pretty Maids played a pair of shows in the summer of 2004 with Jacob Troutner on keyboards and Rene Shades on second guitar. [15] [16] Following delays to the recording of the band's next album, Petersen left Pretty Maids in July 2005. [17] He was replaced the following April by Allan Tschicaja, who debuted on Wake Up to the Real World later that year. [18] H. C. Shröder performed keyboards on the album and at two shows in Denmark in December 2006. [19]
By mid-2007, Morten Sandager had taken over as Pretty Maids' touring keyboardist. [20] He became a full-time member with the release of the band's next album Pandemonium in 2010. [21] This was also the last Pretty Maids album to feature bassist Jackson, who left in April 2010. [22] He was briefly replaced by former King Diamond bassist Hal Patino, [23] who left after less than a year. [24] He was replaced by Rene Shades, who was initially introduced as a "temporary" addition. [16] This lineup released It Comes Alive: Maid in Switzerland, Motherland and Louder Than Ever , before parting ways with Sandager in February 2016. [25] Kim Olesen played keyboards on Kingmaker that summer, [26] before Chris Laney took over from September. [27] In May 2017, Tschicaja was replaced by Allan Sørensen from Royal Hunt. [28] After recording the album Undress Your Madness , Sørensen left again in July 2019, [29] with Tschicaja returning to take his place in the band. [30]
| Image | Name (real name) | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ken Hammer (Kenneth Hansen) | 1981–present |
| all Pretty Maids releases | |
| Ronnie Atkins (Paul Christensen) | lead vocals | |||
| Rene Shades (René Sehic) |
|
| all Pretty Maids releases from It Comes Alive: Maid in Switzerland (2012) onwards | |
| Allan Tschicaja |
| drums | all Pretty Maids releases from Wake Up to the Real World (2006) to Kingmaker (2016) | |
| Chris Laney | 2016–present |
|
|
| Image | Name (real name) | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Jakobsen (died 2023) | 1981 |
| none | |
| Phil Moorhead (Henrik Andersen) | 1981–1990 | drums | all Pretty Maids releases from the Heavy Metal demo (1983) to In Santa's Claws (1990) | |
| Alan "Stevie" Owen (Allan Nielsen) |
| keyboards |
| |
| Pete Collins (Jan Sørensen) |
| rhythm and lead guitars |
| |
| John Darrow (Johnny Møller) | 1981–1984 |
| ||
| Allan Delong (Allan Jensen) | 1984–1990 | bass |
| |
| Rick Hanson (Kim Hansen) | 1984 | rhythm and lead guitars | Red Hot and Heavy (1984) | |
| Benny Petersen | none | |||
| Gerhard "Angel" Schleifer | 1987–1988 | |||
| Ricky Marx (Henrik Mark) | 1988–1990 |
| ||
| Kenn Jackson (Kenn Jacobsen) | 1991–2010 |
| all Pretty Maids releases from Sin-Decade (1992) to Pandemonium (2010) | |
| Michael Fast Petersen | 1991–2005 |
| all Pretty Maids releases from Sin-Decade (1992) to Alive at Least (2002) | |
| Morten Sandager | 2007–2016 | keyboards |
| |
| Hal Patino | 2010–2011 | bass | none | |
| Allan Sørensen | 2017–2019 | drums |
|
| Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dominic Gale (session and touring member) | 1989–1996 | keyboards | After Alan Owen's departure, Gale took over keyboard duties as a session and touring member, featuring on all releases from In Santa's Claws (1990) to Screamin' Live (1995). [11] | |
| Jan Møller (touring member) |
| Møller toured with the band in promotion of Spooked, then again after the release of Carpe Diem and Planet Panic. [13] | ||
| Jørgen Thorup (touring member) | 2001 | Thorup briefly replaced Møller as the band's touring keyboardist during early 2001. [14] | ||
| Jacob Troutner (touring member) | 2004 | Troutner stood in on keyboards for two shows in the summer of 2004 when Møller became unavailable. [15] | ||
| H. C. Schröder | 2006 | Schröder performed keyboards on Wake Up to the Real World and at two shows in Denmark in December 2006. [19] | ||
| Kim Olesen | 2016 | After the departure of Sandager in February 2016, Olesen performed session keyboards on Kingmaker . [26] |
| Period | Members | Releases |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 |
Other members unknown | none |
| Late 1981–April 1984 |
|
|
| May–September 1984 |
|
|
| October 1984 |
| none |
| Late 1984–early 1986 |
| |
| Early 1986–early 1987 |
|
|
| Spring 1987–early 1988 |
| none |
| Spring 1988–September 1989 |
|
|
| Late 1989–December 1990 |
| none — some recording for In Santa's Claws |
| Early 1991–1996 |
|
|
| 1996–2001 |
|
|
| Early–mid 2001 |
|
|
| 2001–2004 |
| |
| Summer 2004 |
| none |
| Band inactive 2005–2006 | ||
| April–December 2006 |
|
|
| Mid 2007–April 2010 |
|
|
| May 2010–April 2011 |
| none |
| May 2011–February 2016 |
|
|
| February–June 2016 |
|
|
| September 2016–May 2017 |
| none |
| May 2017–July 2019 |
|
|
| July 2019–present |
| none to date |
