hypersongs

Focus

An Amsterdam band built around the keyboardist and flutist Thijs van Leer and the guitarist Jan Akkerman, who reached the US top ten in 1973 with "Hocus Pocus", a rock parody with yodeling.

Amsterdam, Hair and the first records

Focus was founded by Thijs van Leer on keyboards, flute and vocals with the drummer Hans Cleuver and the bassist Martijn Dresden, who met at sessions for the Jazz and Poetry radio programme in Hilversum; Dutch Wikipedia dates the trio to 1968, English Wikipedia the band to 1969. Jan Akkerman joined in November 1969 after a jam at a rehearsal of the singer Ramses Shaffy's theatre show, in which van Leer had played from 1967, and from December 1969 the band was the pit orchestra for the Dutch production of Hair. Focus Plays Focus, later called In and Out of Focus, was recorded in January 1970 at Sound Techniques in London and released in the Netherlands in September 1970; "House of the King" was a Dutch hit, and the debut won an Edison.

In 1971, at Akkerman's request, van Leer dropped Cleuver and Dresden, and Pierre van der Linden and Cyril Havermans joined, with Bert Ruiter replacing Havermans in September 1971. Moving Waves (Focus II) was recorded between April 13 and May 14, 1971 at Sound Techniques and Morgan Studios in London with Mike Vernon producing and Jerry Boys engineering, and released in October 1971 on Imperial. Focus 3, a double album recorded in July 1972, reached number one in the Netherlands and number six in the UK, with "Sylvia" at number four in the UK in January 1973.

Break-up, reunions and Focus 12

In 1973 "Hocus Pocus" reached number nine in the US, At the Rainbow, the live album, reached 23 in the UK, and Billboard gave them a Trendsetter Award; van der Linden left, replaced by Colin Allen, and then David Kemper. Hamburger Concerto (1974) and Mother Focus (1975) followed, and Akkerman left in 1976 (Dutch Wikipedia says 1975), replaced by Philip Catherine and then Eef Albers. Focus con Proby (1978) was poorly received, and van Leer ended the band after a show in Terneuzen in August 1978. Akkerman and van Leer made a duo album, Focus, in 1985, the original quartet reunited on April 20, 1990 in Apeldoorn, and van Leer ran line-ups in 1997 to 1999 and from 2001, at first as a tribute act named Hocus Pocus.

Later records include Focus 8 (2002), Focus 9 / New Skin (2006), Focus X (2012), Golden Oldies (2014), Focus 11 (2019, Cherry Red) and Focus 12 (July 5, 2024, produced by Pannekeet and Gootjes at Wisseloord Studios, with Roger Dean artwork); The Focus Symphony, with the Antwerp Philharmonic, came in October 2025. The current line-up is van Leer, van der Linden, Gootjes and Pannekeet. Ruiter died on March 22, 2022, aged 75. Van Leer says they are not a prog group, and Wikipedia describes them as one of the most successful and influential Dutch rock bands. Books include Peet Johnson's Hocus Pocus (2013) and Stephen Lambe's Focus in the 1970s.

Albums

  • Moving Waves 1971 · Imperial

    Their second album, also called Focus II: six pieces, opening with "Hocus Pocus" and closing with the 22-minute "Eruption".

Songs

  • Hocus Pocus Moving Waves · 1971

    A rock parody in rondo form, with a yodel, scat, flute and whistling, that reached number nine in the US in 1973.

Sources

  1. Focus (band), Wikipedia
  2. Focus (band), Wikipedia (Dutch)
  3. Focus bio, focustheband.co.uk
  4. Thijs van Leer, Wikipedia