NEWS
KEEP AN EYE ON THIS SPACE!
This page will update you on what is happening in the near future, but also share stories that didn't make it to the book - you wouldn't believe the pain when the you are running out of pages and need to cut it short - or have 1000s of photos but can only print 100...
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I will also share some of the memories from the interviews I have done over the years. Things that didn't make it to the book but still is a part of the history.
It sure has been a long and rocky road from the beginning, a road trip to Horsens with Jesper Madsen, until now.
But it has been fun - I am just a fan, after all. I really hope you'll like the result!
ORDER YOUR BOOK NOW!
We Came To Rock is ONLY available to buy online here
WHY IS THE BOOKÂ CALLED THE PRETTY MAIDS JOURNALS?
The name come from 'keeping a journal', a more grown-up version of writing a diary. The idea was to write a journal, with posts of every day from the beginning to today. As it turned out, some stories couldn't be split into smaller entries without losing its purpose, so instead the book is split into four parts.
1. The Story
2. The Journal
3. The Music
4. The References
You either read it from beginning to the end, or here and there.
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HEAVY [HÆVI] HORSENS
Danish heavy legends celebrate their 40th anniversary and are celebrated with an exhibition at Horsens Museum
This year, Pretty Maids celebrate their 40th anniversary with squealing electric guitars and heavy drumbeats. Horsens Museum tells the story of the band in sound, pictures and leather jackets.
When the conversation turns to Danish rock music, the mind often turns to the two musical metropolises of Aarhus and Copenhagen. However, one iconic Danish rock band stands out by having very close bonds with Horsens.
In the early 1980s, Pretty Maids burst on to the scene with big hair and even bigger attitudes. The style was heavy rock with catchy melodies and, from the very outset, the aim was set on the far abroad.
Since then, a total of 16 albums has been produced, several EPs, live-recordings and compilations, and nominations have been received for a host of awards, including two Grammys, and a vast number of live performances have been played throughout the world.
This year, Pretty Maids celebrate their 40th anniversary and, for that occasion, Horsens Museum has collaborated with the musicians to create a special exhibition on the history of the band.
From the very beginning when the two friends Paul and Kenneth became Ronnie Atkins and Ken Hammer and formed the band for the huge 1992 hit ’Please Don’t Leave Me’ to the critical acclaim for a new and heavier sound in the 2010s.
Over the years, the band became known for their captivating concerts. Along the way, they have shared the stage with such iconic names as Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Kiss, Scorpions, Alice Cooper and many more. In truth, it is a band with a lot of show, a great career and, not least, a great story.
The local heroes
At Horsens Museum, they look forward to presenting a special exhibition on the rock heroes of the city.
- As the local history museum of an old medieval town, we are used to covering some very long timelines and we are very excited to now turn up the music all the way and tell a more recent part of the history of Horsens, says Merete Bøge Pedersen, Museum Director.
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The exhibition will include music, film, new interviews and well-worn items from life on stage and on the roads.
- Creating an exhibition in dialogue with the subjects has been a completely new and exciting experience. We have been allowed to delve all the way into some heavily beating musical hearts of both musicians and fans. The idea for the exhibition came from a devoted fan of the band, Ozzie Adenborg, who has followed the band for many years and who is putting the finishing touches on a new book on the history of the band, says Louise Højsgaard Nielsen, Project Manager and Exhibition Manager.
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- Collaborating with her and the musicians has been both inspiring and touching. We hope that this will be apparent from the exhibition. With it, we will celebrate a significant anniversary as well as the story that you can be from Horsens and still be heard in Japan – if you play loudly and well enough, she concludes.
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The exhibition Heavy [Hævi] Horsens opens on 1 November and will be on display up to and including 28 February 2022 at the Horsens Museum.
MEET THE TEAM BEHIND WE CAME TO ROCK - THE OFFICIAL PRETTY MAIDS JOURNALS!
Jesper Madzen - from the beginning it was the two of us looking for Pretty Maids in Horsens, but family life happened so I continued on my own.
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Rikard Göransson - we met the first time in 1993 at an Evening of Thin Lizzy in Malmö, Sweden. But my first real memory of Rikard is in 2004 when we again met backstage and Ronnie Atkins tell us both that we need to be friends "you are my biggest fans!" Rikard took 1000s of photos back in the day when you needed an expensive camera and lots of film to take great photos. He made all the photos available for We Came To Rock. Great friend and listener!
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Lars Schmidt - the editor. A fellow Thin Lizzy-fan, bass player and journalist who followed Pretty Maids career since the beginning.
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Janne Stark - layout. Technical writer, guitarist, journalist and author. With all the details and photos, the different sections and my super clear vision of what I wanted the result to look like, he attacked the task and did a very good job.
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Kennet Havgaard - the photographer who took the cover photo. Kennet is a creative art photographer who used to follow boybands around and take great, colourful photos of them. He worked for a youth magazine called MIX when he was asked to cover the Pretty Maids concert in Copenhagen. He only saw Pretty Maids once and when I located him he had to search in his attic for the original slides.
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GANTOFTA SKIVBÖRS
Saturday October 23, 2021 at 11.00 - 13.00 Ozzie (the author) will be visiting Gantofta Skivbörs i Ödåkra (Helsingborg, Sweden) with a pack of books if you want to buy a copy before the book is officially released and talk about Pretty Maids!
Address: Fabriksgatan 2, Ödåkra
BUY IN SWEDEN / KÖP BOKEN I SVERIGE
Gantofta Skivbörs i Ödåkra (Helsingborg) (endast öppet på helger)
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Stil & Botanik i Karlshamn (särskilda öppettider) Säljer böcker signerade av Ken Hammer!
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Bokus & Akademibokhandeln
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Sound Pollution i Stockholm
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Bengans i Göteborg
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BUY IN DENMARK / KØB BOGEN I DANMARK
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Horsens Museum, Sundvej 1a (open Tuesday - Sunday 11.00 - 16.00)
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Beat Bop, Peder Hvidtfeldtsstæde 14, Copenhagen (weekdays 10.30 - 18.00, Saturday 11-15)
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Zeppelin, Vesterbrogade 45, Copenhagen (check opening hours!)
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VinÖl Bastro Rock Bar, Borgergade 1, 8700 Horsens (check opening hours!)