Focus

Formed in Amsterdam during 1969, the Dutch progressive rock outfit Focus earned its lasting recognition from the eccentric hit “Hocus Pocus.” The founding lineup featured vocalist, keyboardist, and flutist Thijs van Leer alongside bassist Martin Dresden and drummer Hans Cleuver. Guitarist Jan Akkerman soon joined, enabling the band to release its first album, In and Out of Focus, in 1970 and cultivate a European cult audience through the single “House of the King.” Dresden and Cleuver departed, making room for bassist Cyril Havermanns and drummer Pierre Van der Linden on the English-language successor Moving Waves; that set delivered “Hocus Pocus,” a hallucinatory epic propelled by Akkerman’s guitar pyrotechnics and van Leer’s demented yodeling. One of the most unconventional tracks ever to reach the American pop charts, the single climbed to number nine during spring 1973. By that point bassist Bert Ruiter had replaced Havermanns, and the group had already unveiled its third LP, Focus III, which spawned the minor hit “Sylvia.” Following 1974’s Hamburger Concert, Focus tempered earlier classical ambitions in favor of a pop-leaning direction on Ship of Memories and Mother Focus. Persistent lineup shifts continued, yet none proved more decisive than Akkerman’s 1976 departure; guitarist Philip Catherine stepped in for the 1978 album Focus con Proby, recorded with British pop singer P.J. Proby. The band then dissolved, though the original members reconvened for a Dutch television special in 1990. After another split, they staged one-off reunions in 1995 and 1999. Van Leer assembled a fresh configuration in 2002, resulting in the albums Focus 8 (2002), Focus 9 / New Skin (2006), and Focus X (2012). Nike’s 2010 World Cup commercial “Write The Future” revived global attention by featuring “Hocus Pocus.” In 2016 Van Leer again adjusted the roster to include drummer Pierre van der Linden, guitarist Menno Gootjes, and bassist Udo Pannekeet, issuing the studio album Focus 8.5 / Beyond the Horizon alongside Live In England. Cherry Red followed a year later with the compilation The Focus Family Album.