The change in style is often attributed to the creative control bassist Bert Ruiter exerted on this album. All of the songs on the album were under four minutes, and while the group retained much of their experimentation their sound seemed much more concentrated. Their 4th studio album “Hamburger Concerto” was issued the following year and was centered around it’s 20 minute title track inspired by Johannes Brahms’ “Variations on Theme by Haydn”.įocus’ next studio album “Mother Focus” toned down their progressive technique and veered in a direction that emphasized funk and light pop. The band decided to give their listeners a taste of their live sound and released their performance at London’s Rainbow Theatre “Live at the Rainbow” in October 1973. An expansive list of instruments were prominently featured on their albums and were often meticulously multi-tracked, overdubbed, and tweaked with various effects. Their albums accurately reflected their live performances, but also hinted at their dexterity in the studio. Their 3rd studio album “Focus III” also proved to be a great international success and thanks due to their frequent appearance on radio and TV broadcasts their popularity seemed to be on a consistent incline. The group exhibited a keen and structured understanding of song composition, referencing motifs from classical composers such as Monteverdi, but were also not afraid to test a song’s limits, often delving into extreme forms of improvisation.įocus continued to push their idiosyncratic style on their proceeding releases, showcasing their classical chops on songs such as “Carnival Fugue”, “Anonymous II”, and “Father Bach” and tapping into the bizarre on songs like “Answers? Questions! Questions? Answers!”. It was praised for its catchiness as for it’s creative instrumentation, which featured flute, accordion, quirky guitar licks, and even yodeling and whistling. Their single “Hocus Pocus” quickly became certified as a rock classic. For a progressive rock album most of the tracks were surprisingly short with the exception of the seven minute “Anonymous” and the nine minute and 45 second title track.įocus were little recognized outside their home country during the time of their 1st album release however, that all changed after their 2nd studio album “Focus II (Moving Waves)” came out. It also prominently experimented with psychedelia particularly in the frenetic, trance inducing cut “Happy Nightmare (Mescaline)”. The album received a fair amount of critical praise due to its cohesive blend of classical, folk, blues, and jazz. A year later the group released their studio debut “Focus Plays Focus”. The song has been covered by the Vandals, and was recorded on their debut LP, When in Rome Do as The Vandals in 1984, and by Helloween on their album Metal Jukebox in 1999.Focus was founded in 1969 in the Netherlands by Thijs van Leer (organ/flute), Jan Akkerman (guitar), Hans Cleuver (drums), and Martin Dresden (bass). That year the single re-entered the UK charts at No. The song was given new life when it became the musical signature of the Nike Write the Future advertising campaign, shown during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. 18 in Canada during the spring and summer of that year. "Hocus Pocus" was also released as a single on the Sire Records label in the United States and Canada in 1973. 20 on the UK charts in late January 1973. Buoyed by a live performance on theThe Old Grey Whistle Test in December 1972 and a subsequent barnstorming British club tour, this version rose to No. A faster re-recording of the song (titled "Hocus Pocus 2" or "Hocus Pocus II" in some markets) was released in Europe in 1972. An edited version was released as a single (with "Janis" as the B-side) on the Imperial, Polydor and Blue Horizon labels in Europe in 1971, but failed to chart. It was recorded and released in 1971 as the opening track of their second studio album, Moving Waves. "Hocus Pocus" is a song by the Dutch rock band Focus, written by keyboardist, flautist and vocalist Thijs van Leer and guitarist Jan Akkerman.
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