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Hocus focus pocus6/7/2023 ![]() 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. In 1985, Akkerman and van Leer regrouped for a one-off reunion album five years later all members of the line-up that created “Hocus Focus” gathered in a Dutch television studio for a special about the group."Hocus Pocus" is a song by the Dutch rock band Focus, written by keyboardist, flautist and vocalist Thijs van Leer and guitarist Jan Akkerman. PROBY and Akkerman’s fill-in, Phillip Catherine. Akkerman, who left Focus in 1976, has gone on to create a fairly successful and critically acclaimed solo career, with albums like Profile (1973), Tabernakel (1974), and Jan Akkerman (1978).įocus’ last recorded work seems to have been the much-anticipated Focus Con Proby (1978), which involved the addition of vocal sensation P. Numerous solo efforts were issued by van Leer during the ’70s –Introspection (1972), O My Love (1975), Nice to Have Met You (1978). Havermans had his own LP (Cyril) issued in 1973 by MGM. Van Der Lin den departed in 1973 his replacement was former Stone the Crows drummer Colin Allen, who himself was replaced but two years later by David Kemper. Havermans left the fold in 1971, and was replaced by bassist Bert Ruiter (b. It was this following that snapped up offerings like Focus 3 (1973), Live at the Rainbow (1973), Hamburger Concer to (1974), Dutch Masters (1975), Mother Focus (1975), and Ship of Memories (1977). But there was more to the band than just this song, or so believed the devotees of Focus’ progressive sounds who liked to flow with the group’s long, stylized improvisations. If Focus is recalled at all by–what once were–Top 40 listeners, it is for that near-novelty number, “Hocus Pocus,” with its yodels, yelps, and manic guitar runs. 19, 1946), who had played with Akkerman in one of his former groups. Their replacements were bassist/singer Cyril Havermans and drummer Pierre Vander Linden (b. Two years later, after Focus’ touring and charting success in England and in the States, Sire Records would reissue the album.īy the time of the recording sessions for Moving Waves (1973), Cleuver and Dresden were gone. In 1971, Polydor issued In and Out of Focus, an LP of their music-merging meanderings. There they would often include amplified arrangements of pieces of work by Bartok and Rodrigo. 24, 1946, Amsterdam) and worked as the pit band for the Dutch production of Hair. They soon added guitarist extraordinaire Jan Akkerman (b. Focus developed a strong local reputation backing Cyril Havermans, Robin Lent, and other Dutch singers. 31, 1948, Amsterdam) on organ and flute, banded together in 1969. Drummer Hans Cleuver, bassist Martin Dresden, plus classically trained founder/frontman Thijs van Leer (b. ![]() They were a Dutch group whose goal was to perform a fusion of rock, jazz, and even the classics. PLACE_LINK_HERE?wmode=transparent” width=”” height=”350″ >įOCUS “HOCUS POCUS” (Thijs van Leer, Jan Akkerman) Sire 704 No.
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