The guitar is hilariously out of key in some places, but it totally works because the rhythm section had everything locked down despite the frenetic pace. Oh, and because the song is ridiculous to begin with, haha.
@@ScottGreenMusic And, with every other player doing their wacky thing, it was SO key for the drums, particularly, and bass keep solid time. At that speed, it would've been easy to speed up or slow down, either or BOTH! Would be fun to set a metronome to the beginning speed, and see how steady the drummer was throughout!
Yeah, same here! I've been watching several reactions to Hocus Pocus, and it is all like "mm, okay, nice riff". But then Thijs van Leer starts yodeling, and from then on their minds are blown, wondering what he'll pull out next.
Berenice, “unique “ is an understatement, your dad is sooooooo cool, a crazy blip in a pompous, almost arrogant musical period, when real talent actually abounded, but sadly it seems, for its own gratification! - Not Focus however, ‘take us as you find us’ - and I found them to be absolutely brilliant. - You must have had so much fun with your dad. Love and best wishes to you and your family (especially dad)!
They must have decided they liked it better fast because this is pretty much how it was on Live at the Rainbow -- but with no time constraints, they pulled a few more tricks out of the bag.
Hell yeah, Ms. Knight told them: "btw, we only got 4 minutes, you'll want to cut a part of your song" And they went "Hell nah, we'll play this 8 minutes song in 4 minutes, we ain't cutting shit!"
The story behind this live appearance was that they were told they had to cut part of the song to fit between commercials. They refused to cut anything out so, instead, they played it really fast.
Hah! The guy to the right was pretty into it though. Like he's running on 'dream logic'. You know when you're having a weird dream, and crazy stuff is happening in front of you, but your brain's just kinda like "yeah, this is normal shit."
In 1973, Jan Akkerman was voted best guitarist alive. In this TV slot, they were given 4 minutes to play. They refused to censor their 7-minute song, so they played it double-time. A world-class performance.
and that was BEFORE van halen ! they must have a helluva guitar school in the netherlands !! akkerman even plays gipsy swing on acoustic guitar ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-TzRv9k_JoYs.html
You should check out Adriano Celentano's "Prisencolinensinainciusol" : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-v5VpczwrSCc.html Some people have said this is what it feels when you have a stroke : you can hear the words but they don't make any sense.
@@bobthebear1246 Personality Crisis is what I thought of when I first encountered Buster Poindexter! You need to check out their Midnight Special performance from 1973 on RU-vid, if you haven't already. "... on live television!..."
@@JasonSmith-jr7jh "Midnight Special" was truly avant at the time! Network TV (NBC) in the US, showing middle America Bowie's "1980 Floor Show" (the Ziggy swan song), the Dolls, Todd Rundgren as a peacock, Roxy Music, Sparks! Had they only pushed the envelope just a bit more, and showed us The Fugs, and maybe the GTOs, more minds coulda been blown! But, I shouldn't be greedy!
The most amazing thing about this is the guitar player... the degree of difficulty of what he is playing is mind bending. The drums were cool, but the lightning was the guitar playing.
A jazz guitarist who shredded almost a decade before Van Halen made it fashionable. In my top three greatest guitar players of all time together with Frank Zappa and Ritchie Blackmore.
Always nice to see people give props to Focus, hailing from my country Holland. Interesting note: the guitar player, Jan Akkerman, who has contributed to many genres and styles, performed with Ice-T on a live track called 'Common sense'. The subject matter is more heavy but worth checking out.
Good call! Akkerman went on to record over a couple dozen solo albums, and Thijs van Leer (both nearing their mid-'70s, now!), with whom Akkerman formed Focus, had solo albums, as well, including some with CBS Records in the mid-'70s!
You mean more heavy than "Yodeladi-yodeladi-yodeladi-yodeladi-yodeladi-yodeladi-dum-dum-ba"?... 😂 Joking aside, Akkerman is definitely one of the greatest guitar players of all time. Sadly often overlooked when people talk about great guitar players, maybe because he's not English or American, and that's a shame.
@@81Ephasian Since you're so formal about this, you should write The Kingdom of Netherlands and Holland is a correct, yet informal way to describe Netherlands. And when you mean European part of the country, there is literally only Holland. Outside of that 3 Caribbean provinces: Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten. Since when people say Holland they usually mean the European part and not the Caribbean provinces, one could argue Holland is more proper way to call it.
I love the world finally discovered Hocus Pocus by Focus. It's a song from my early childhood and I've always loved it. It was very progressive then, but it still is now. In the Netherlands (where I live) this song is hardly played anymore. But (also through the magic of algorithms..) I see more and more recent reaction vids of Hocus Pocus. And I love the reactions :)
Omg!! I had to see this one again! The brothers are in for a crazy ride!! That yodeling!!! I know they had to speed it up but man is that funny!! The way your heads were all going! And when he whistles through his teeth! Loved your reactions!!
My Dad used to blow my mind with tunes on "Daddy Sunday". he would pull up in a giant baby blue carpeted vehicle. if it was winter the smell of his weed would make my little brother pass out.[windows rolled up, we live in Winnipeg ! ] I however was not a napper. lol. I heard so many crazy tunes I still listen to today. This one was way back there. I love your show because your first time reactions help me enjoy them too !! Thank you . bear Hugs
Great comment, Johan! Love "Daddy Sunday"! A beautiful thought and idea for dads everywhere, with or without full-time custody! If we can tolerate "Taco Tuesday," we should do "Daddy Sunday"!
I just love how Jamel keeps looking over at his brothers watching their reactions, knowing how amazing the music is and wanting to share it! Just love it.
I was 13 as well. I dont know if you remember k-tel records. They were compilation albums with a few of the popular songs of the time. I bought an album that had this song on it, but I bought for the other songs it had. So I heard it in this album for the first time.
this is a sped up frenetic version to fit into the time constraints imposed on them for the show. The song is actually slower(still fast paced) and longer. and more melodic too.
Focus are easily one of the best live bands I’ve seen. I was lucky enough to have drinks with Thijs and the band after a gig 15 years ago in Chester - genuinely lovely people
Totally forgot about this song, but I definitely remembered it as soon as it started. So fun! Yodeling AND some incredible whistling, plus the band was great! Thanks for bringing back the memories.
I'm laughing so hard at you fella's! Your faces were priceless, especially when the guy started with his one tooth whistling!! This song goes hard, I've always loved it! Great reaction as always Jamel! 🤣
Guy on the right thought he was ready hehe, guy on the left had his eyes bulging almost as far as things did. Great to see, best reaction video so far. Keep showing and surprising people with this epic classic
What I love the most about this song is how many reaction videos I've seen of it and how little there was beyond absolute amazement at the performance.
Focus ...I am 74 years old and got the LP,s of all theire work,...Jan Akkerman still going strong..He was the lead guitarist...btw im Dutch and greetings to you all*
I will never forget the first time I heard this. Me and a close friend were pumping gas where we worked at the Northfield Exxon with the garage bay doors open and the radio cranking out of the garage. This was about 1986. As this song began playing, we just lost it. Laughing hilarious while at the same time in awe at the great song.
welcome to the 70's, when music could be fun, exciting and bursting with new ideas. Loved 'Sylwia' by Focus that I was chuffed when I met and fell in love with a girl by that name.
Imagine trying to learn and play along with this tune at age 11 after just getting your first drum kit. That's how old I was in '73 when I first heard it. The tune actually appeared on a "best of" vinyl LP by K-TEL back in the early-to-mid '70s. Other popular songs of the day which were included on that LP were "Ballroom Blitz" by Sweet and "Radar Love" by Golden Earing. Good times...
It's funny because the audience probably was familiar with the song and knew they were playing it at greatly increased speed. Probably part of the reason for the massive applause.
Only Full Standing Ovation ever on The Midnight Special. The audience was so high usually they just sat there. The show did not start until 12:30am early Saturday Morning and ran until 2amish, so the audience had lots of time to "get happy" . I remember Frampton blowing it away, and got maybe 50 people clapping they were so high, he was not even angry, just smiled and knew why. Back then everything shut down for all HS and University students, every Frat Party etc., off went the music, and everyone watched The Midnight Special.
All of the bandmembers of Focus had studied music in conservatorium in Holland. That is a musicuniversity. They were very well trained and studied musicians.
Amazing how much talent, virtuosity and technique went into this performance, especially while rocking sooo damn hard and adding so much humor/comedy into this song at the very same time! The reactions to this with the huge smiles and looks of pure amazement are priceless!❤️❤️🤘🏼🤘🏼
Jamel - I heard this in 1968 when it first came out.. Nothing like it - ever - The recorded studio version = really, really, great !!! It is also much longer. They had to shorten this song to fit for TV.. I may still have the original LP Album of this somewhere.. Thank you for this !!!
Love your (rather stunned) reactions! Fantastic live music which we were treated to in the 70"s !! We were so lucky to have great musicians around. So good that we have it captured on film so that future generations can see this kind of music and talent (and crazy personalities!!) It's great to see you guys enjoying this! LOVE your tee shirt tag Jamal. Just be a good human. Couldnt be said better. Thank you for sharing your joy of music with us Babs from the UK
Focus is brilliant - from a time when making music was about making music instead of making money. It is a shame that the charts nowadays are full of the same boring s**t, the obligatory rap, autotuned vocals and the same chord progressions. Imagine talented artists like Focus back on the radio nowadays - every song a breath of fresh air! Wouldn't that be absolutely great. Love the video... your reactions are priceless!
Dog get out to some low key open mics and follow some smaller bands that roll through town. Many are more talented than chart toppers. The charts are just for the appeasement of the general population. Still tons of good music being made just for the sake of music!
I'm the one who sent you this last year. You had my kids and me cracking up because you put your headphones down, walked away, then basically threatened to come over and start yodeling at us! Keep up all the great work. You brightened our quarantine
What you don't get from the recored version is 'live' everytime they go around it gets faster... Great band, great music, great performance, great reaction!!!!
57 now and been listening to Hocus Pocus since I was only 8 years old. Loved it then and love it now. :) Thank you gentlemen for sharing this masterpiece.
Definitely! Back in the 90s I was vehemently anti-eurodance but man, I could never have imagined how bad things would become. _Barbie Girl_ almost feels like Mozart now compared to today's popular music.
Nobody who doesn't "know" can possibly be "ready for this". I love this song so much. This is the BEST performance, I think like double speed of the album version. Loved their reaction!!!
I'm glad they clarified the too-fast tempo. The band wasn't given enough time to play it at its "normal" tempo (which, for one thing, allowed the drummer to play more complex rhythms, and show some really mind-blowing bass drum foot speed) At this hyper-tempo they were forced to play it at, he couldn't double up the tempo - understandably -). The yodeling is still pretty much the same zaney thing that's on the released version, though. But I give these guys a ton of credit for being very open-minded about this. 👍👍
This Dutch band came to prominence in the UK with Hocus Pocus & Sylvia which were both hit singles in 1971 and 1973 respectively, renowned for his falsetto yodelling and screaming, Thijs van Leer was the colourful founder member of the band.
They’re Dutch and they are great. The keyboard flute player, Thijs van Leer also played in the live concert by Ayreon: the electric castle live and other tales.
A really lovely, open-minded and joyful reaction from your two friends. My best wishes to them from me in England. Glad they enjoyed it - we all did when it first came out.
My son heard this many times when he was still in my womb . He turned out to be a smiling and openminded human being. I saw them again performing some 5 years ago in the Hague and Thijs van Leer was still whistling and fluting away behind his hammond. Peace and harmony to you!
I'm grew up in the 70's and never heard of this group or ever hearing this song on the on the radio. It was fun sharing the 1st time reaction with you guys. I had to call my wife in to see this (she never heard of them either). Loved the video and music, love your channel.
LMAO… it’s so funny to watch your friends on this video! They’re like… “What the hell did we just listen to?!” And then when the lead singer started his yodel whistle, they both cocked their heads like two dogs listening weird! I love watching this reaction!
The singer/keyboard player/flutist is Thijs van Leer. The guitarplayer is Jan Akkerman. In 1973 the English magazine Melody Maker declared him the best guitar player in the world.
Oh my god your brothers faces at 2:05 when the yodeling starts 🤣🤣 their eyebrows go up at the same EXACT same second. They both stop grooving and go WTF?! I must have rewatched that part 20 times now I can't stop laughing
