One For The Old Folks...

When the Reverend was a wee lad, tooling around rural Williamson County in his pimped-out '73 Satellite Sebring Plus (i.e. the car had lots of chrome and an eight-track tape player), Dutch band Focus ruled the airwaves with its bizarro tune "Hocus Pocus." From the band's 1971 album Moving Waves, the song still received significant AOR airplay through the mid-to-late-70s. I think that radio deejays just enjoyed announcing "Hocus Pocus by Focus," and then running off to take a bathroom break (since the song ran six-minutes and change). Whenever this jam came on the car radio, though, it was a sign to kick it into high gear and roll down Berry's Chapel or Old Hillsboro Road at high speeds to keep pace with the music.

Although Focus is known only for "Hocus Pocus" in America, the band remained popular in Europe long after the novelty had worn off stateside, disbanding at the break of the '80s and later reforming in 1990 for a Dutch television special. Focus has recorded new material as recently as last year (the New Skin album). Fronted by vocalist/keyboardist Thijs van Leer - notable for his yelping vocals and outrageous yodeling - and featuring extraordinary guitarist Jan Akkerman, the original Focus band was ostensibly a prog-rock outfit that gradually outgrew the stylistic straitjacket of the genre and incorporated elements of jazz, pop and classical music in their maddening mix.

This video clip offers a glimpse of vintage Focus, performing on what appears to be a television show. Van Leer's vocals and facial expressions are so OTT as to be hilariously absurd, but there's no denying the underlying musical talent displayed by the band. So, without further adieu, I give you "Hocus Pocus by Focus"! (Thanks to buddy Steve M. for the video link)

Focus "Hocus Pocus" (1973)


(Click on the CD cover to buy Hocus Pocus: The Best Of Focus from Amazon.com)