Ex Metal Elitist Reacts to Focus "Hocus Pocus"
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- Опубликовано: 28 июл 2024
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• Hocus Pocus - Focus | ...
At one point of my musical journey, I would of been considered an Elitist. I just liked what I liked. But as I've gotten older I've realized there's alot of great music out there, and I want to find it! Thank You for bearing with me on the beginning stages of this channel. Feel free to request any song.
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#reaction #thewolffandthemelody 
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That's right, folks, this is what we were doing before a lot of you were born. 😃
i was staring at the 45 trying to figure out how they made that noise... seeing it now on video makes it more complicated and awesome ... we played it with 2 guitars because you cant play that with one ... thx video for the arse slap
The only standing ovation in the Midnight Special's glorious run.
After watching this in high school we couldn't wait to get back to school on Monday to talk about it. No cell phones lol. Peace from Northern Michigan.
now that i did NOT know ... cheers mate
Finally someone reacts to the full version. Thanks 🙏🏻
Dude it was brilliant!
The full version of the contraction...:)
Minus the whistling.
Most bands invited to perform their biggest hit on a TV show with a limited amount of time ahorter than the actual song lenght would cut the "weaker" parts.. but not these guys! "Let's just speed everything up to fit the time frame we have!".. ridiculously amazing!
Oh, that's what happened! I was wondering why it was so fast... 😊
I keep watching and I enjoy it more and more
@@siwlasilva I'm presuming it was that, plus a *lot* of drugs :D
The Dutch are used to fit everything in tights spaces.
Wasn't that sort of the plot of that movie That Thing You Do?
Thijs van Leer and his flute. My musical hero for so many years and still going strong.
thats so cool! This was great
My dad (77) loves him!
doing prog cruises in the Carribean lol
Focus is still playing, I saw the band with organist Thijs van Leer last month ( September 2023) in The Netherlands. And still…..so good. Drummer Pierre van der Linden is also still in the band. Guitarist Jan Akkerman is still playing and have a solocareer. The fist time I saw Focus live was in 1973😅
i only discovered these guys about 5 years ago and love it, all of them are brilliant musicians, when i listen to 'How Many Miles' i did wonder if it was still Van der Linden, if he hasnt been with them the whole time Thijs has a great ear for drummers!
I love that the Midnight Special uploaded the full version of this. There's been a cut-down version kicking around RUclips for a decade, but now finally people get the see the whole performance.
My first time seeing this version... At first, I thought someone had edited in some extra segments. Thrilled to see this.
I have a 24 DVD collection of the Midnight Special archives and its always bugged me that the full version wasn't uploaded, even if its only 30 seconds missing
this was the first focus video i saw. the second one was what i thought was this, but someone had overlaid it with really really well played badly played music (it was perfectly executed to make it sound like bad music but still perfectly in time in beat and verse, which in itself, is almost more clever than trying to play something correctly) and weird 'singing' that matched what was on video, such as a wheezing sound when thijs is yodelling, it was hilarious and i havent been able to find it for years nor can i remember what account it was from.
This is a prime example of hearing it on the radio and seeing it performed live is totally different. I’ve listened to this for years and really liked it but you can get lost with the yodeling. Seeing it live like that and see the pure musicianship of the entire group. Now I see how badass they all are!
Its one of those bands when you first hear them, you want to hear more. 50 years i've been listening to them.
"Everything could be heard." That's right; 100% props to the guy on the mixer desk.
To think that they played the song in double time instead of cutting pieces out to adhere to V time limits. The guitarist at the time was considered one of the best in the world. Shredding in 1973, yet of course it's understandable to laugh. I had never heard of yodeling before I heard this song. Thanks for doing this reaction!!
This was amazing!!!
No, it's not that much faster, that idea comes from the edited version of this which is about 4 minutes and 25 seconds.
The full version used here is 6 minutes and 4 seconds while the original is 6 minutes and 43 seconds, so not that much difference ...but it sure sounds a lot faster.
The original "pop yodeler" was an Australian called Frank Ifield back in the 60's.
One of the best live performances of a dutch band ever
It's always wonderful to see a new person get their mind broken by this performance. Ain't no one on Earth ready to hear this for the first time.
The vocal coach youtuber "Fairy Voice Mother" reacts to this song and she goes through just what effort is needed for this song and what he actually does.
She is impressed, and if you want to know some of what is actually going on (and partly why his face looks like that) I really recommend it as well.
Your reaction is Gold. This song is complete madness. Jan's play is amazing. It is not possible not to be in awe. Thank you for your reaction. So beautifull.
I haven't know about this song all that long, but I have listened to it a lot. It is just so much fun. Just an "it's all one big family" note that the singer, Thijs van Leer, has worked with Arjen Lucassen on the Ayreon project "Into the Electric Castle."
Wow!!! I gotta dive into Ayreon more
@@TheWolffAndTheMelody You sure gotta. Ayreon's a deep dive and you'll love it (focus.. on two Live concerts: Ayreon Universe Live in 2017 and "Electric Castle Live and Other Tales" from 2019). Here's good old Thijs van Leer (yodelist) making an entry in 2019: "Ayreon - Amazing Flight (Electric Castle Live And Other Tales)". Enjoy!
Been listening to this song for 50 years, and saw them 4 or 5 times in the 70s. Where ya been?
Love watching people get their minds blown with this kind of music. 35ish years on from discovering the gold mine of incredible music from the late 60's and early 70's and so mutch of it still blows what came after it, out of the water! XD
I loved it! So good!
this is the long version ive never seen
thx loads
When introducing this on my radio show I can't help but say "You all know the words, so sing along !"
hahaha thats amazing
My teen years were a blare and this was the soundtrack
'Which narcotics did you use when doing this gig?' - 'Yes!'
I consider Jan the guitarist the godfather of shred! What a great performance of this, wonderful watching your mind break!
AMEN !
Jan Akkerman is the guitar player. He was recognized as being as good as Eric Clapton back then.
Thijs van Leer is the singer, keyboard player. You can see him play the flute live in the Ayreon live concert The electric castle live and other tales. He’s well in his seventies then and a lot fatter.
This song is played faster than normal here because of the limited time window of the tv show.
hes much better than clapton
Jan played Clapton into a depression and Clapton knew it!
@@bjrnhagen2853Different genre. Both very talented.
Drummer is Pierre Van Der Linden still plays with focus now.
One of the best songs EVER written !!!! I saw this live on the Midnight Special when I was a little kid, I was supposed to be in bed. I didn’t know what to think but I loved it because I was a beginning drummer at the time and that drummer absolutely blew me away !!
I think the facial expressions in the beginning was Thijs van Leer preparing himself to do this song at twice the speed. lol
I actually saw others say the same thing.
Makes you want to slap new artists. These guys were SOOO professional, and this is a masterpiece in composition and performance. A shame that they were kind of a one hit wonder.
Dude.
They have over 12 albums and are still touring.
You've obviously not listened much to thier works.
You’re right, I didn’t know. We should all give them a fresh listen.
@@kuolemanlaakso1696 technically, they are a one hit wonder. but that's nothing to be ashamed of. Chumbawamba embraced their one hit wonder status by wearing t-shirts printed "One hit wonder" during their concerts. They made lots of albums before and after the hit and they're still a legendary band. Same as Focus, by the way.
@@batmojuice5704 Moving Waves, Focus III, Hamburger Concerto, Live at Rainbow are possibly their best work
Good ole days.😊
Jan Ackerman was voted best guitarist in the world in 1972.
Yeah man, this is the kind of music we used to watch on TV. Midnight Special was a freaking great show.
I have many happy memories head banging to this 40 years ago.
50 yrs ago--i remember watching this on TV
biggest hit, yes, but they didn't plan it that way. Apparently this, at regular speed, was what they used to warm up with. It helps that English isn't their first language, makes the cadences a bit different, but I loved it from the beginning. I was 24 at the time.
The song was sped up by the band when the show they on, The Midnight Special told them they had under 6 minutes to do their 9 minutes plus song.
Wonderful reaction! I'm glad you appreciate the talent of these musicians. Thjis van Leer was classically trained on flute, organ and piano at various musical academies in Europe. He's still performing live to this day with a new version of Focus... Jan Akkerman was voted World's Great Guitarist by Melody Maker in 1973, the year of this performance. Jan is a highly accomplished lutenist and classical guitarist, in addition to his electric playing.
I loved this so much! What an amazing performance!
They were jamming out!! Looking forward to the future of the community Brother. You should change "Ex Metal Elitist" to "Open Minded Reactor.""
Ohhhhh thats brilliant!
great. there passed so many time without hearing this. They are awsome😂
this was soooo great!
I was lucky to hear Focus a few years ago live. Thijs van Leer has kept it together all this time. He's a hoot to hang with and very friendly. On Cruise to the Edge he jammed with Rachel Flowers in one of the lounges. It was a bucket list item for me, as I've been a Focus fan since I saw this on tv in 1973. Most consider Focus of that era in the prog genre. Look up Rachel if you are interested in musical prodigies.
Dude what a time you must of had! Thats so cool and thanks for sharing! Yea I was listening to more focus while at work today. Im really happy I did.
Wow, I don't remember this being this fast! 😲
This song and reactions to it are my current rabbit hole. Evidently, they had five minutes left to play a 7-minute song. The album version is about 20% slower.
First and Only full standing ovation in the 9 years of The Midnight Special.
Yours in one of the best reactions I've seen to this song. The look on your face was priceless!
'Hocus Pocus' came out while I was in college, at a time when 'metal' was just beginning. Most people don't realize that their grandparents were way cooler than they think.
In this clip, singer/keyboardist Thijs van Leer is a doppelganger for archaeologist Phil Harding, who worked on the original 20 years of the British series 'Time Team', starting in 1994.
I loved this song! So good
The Keyboardist and Drummer are still going strong have released their album Focus 50 for their 50th Anniversary and are still doing concerts, sadly almost all on the other side of the pond.
The guitarist really shreds - crazy fun song
This is a longer version of this performance than I've seen before.
This brings back so many memories. Thank you :)
Now you know where it all began. This Midnight Special was so 'special' it influenced a lot of bands who went on to become shred.
Yes they were frontrunners and an important inspiration for so many established and upcoming musicians. Jan Akkerman the guitarist was considered as one of the best in the business in 1973. Not only because his fastness but he was tapping and shredding as if it was nothing in those early days.
Dude, this was so good! I Loved it!
And more importantly, sweeping.
I read somewhere they had to play it faster as the 7 minute version wasn't permitted for the Midnight Special, so rather than cut anything, they played it faster!
I remember the first time I heard this on Top of the Pops "What the hell was that?"
What a song to hear when you have not yet reached your twelfth birthday!
Incredible live performance! Thank you for sharing and reacting.
It was so fun!
This was the golden age of music. There was so SO many experimental and highly innovative bands and musicians around AND they got record deals... it's gone so into the dumpster since then. Always remember the Frank Zappa interview where he give his theory on why music industry is struggling and why musicians are struggling.
Can be found on YT.. short clip from one interview. Guy KNEW HIS SHIT!
Yodeller is Thijs van Leer if you see any of Ayreon's Electric Castle Live and Other Tales concert he makes a few appearances playing the flute.
I was fortunate enough to grow up in a city with a radio station that played this song just often enough to make it a special treat to hear. It gave me a love of "weirdness" that has pretty much defined my musical taste ever since. Rock? Pop? Blues? Jazz? Classical? Whatever. Weird? Love it! This song led me (eventually) to bands like Korpiklanni, The HU, Enter the Haggis, and more.
Subbed because I used to play this on my radio show back in the day. It was always a favorite. I would turn the studio speakers up so loud the office people would complain. Glad
you discovered it for yourself. Enjoy!
You reacted right Wolff!
Hell yea!
These Guys are Legends! Jan Akkerman was one of the best guitar Players of the 70ies, but of cause they all Smash IT.🎉
One person reviews this, then every moron on RUclips has to fallow, thanks for the honest review. The fact that the original was 6.42 and Focus sped it up because they refused to cut it short shows what amazing musicians they are.
Have not heard that in Years, thanks that was COOL.
Nice reaction man, I know them for several years now. This song, despite it beeing made mostly for fun, was not only a hit, but also a masterpiece and so 70's. The 70's (sadly before my time as I'm an 80's child) where incredible years as there was alot set for future music. I like to think metal was also born in the 70's (altough maybe already a bit in the 60's). I love all this progressive/experimental stuff because it's so real. Thanks for reacting to this. Greetings from a metal head.
Much love to you dude! Thanks for the love man!
Hi, 74 years old hippie from the Netherlands =Floor, Irene, Simone, Anneke, Dianne & Arjen(Ayreon) Country= reporting in: I think Thijs van Leer is featuring in The Electric Castle (Ayreon) "The Barbarian & the Hippie". So, just to show you guys that in the early days we already had a very nice Prog Rock scene in the Netherlands ...!!! Shine on you all ... ✌
Many decades drummer here and Pierre Van Der Linden's drum timing is impeccable. Couldn't play it then, can't play it now.
I was twelve years old when the song came out on the radio.
the guitarist is fellow countryman Jan Akkerman. that pushed Eric Clapton from first place in Melody Makers.
I hear they still tour in GB. If you can find the full-length video of this it is even more impressive and crazy.
Awesome! I was going to recommend this on one of our fun day streams. Wild talent.. wild eyes! My mom taught me to yodel back in the day when i was a wee lad, but nothing like this lol. Or whistle.. or play the flute. 😂 I've seen it before and shared it a bunch, but I loved your reaction to it. ❤ and ✌️ all
Dude, there was soooo much great stuff!
Focus didn't want to edit their song to play in the time allotted so they played it in double time
Do you know Thijs van Leer has a classical background, and till this day he is still performing Focus and classical songs? He has a Swiss knife in his body and is so versatile. Jan Akkerman was at that time named like the best guitarist of the world. But he became a session player, and now he is involved in a good deal of jazz combo's. Also, the drummer has a jazz background, you can see how he holds his drumsticks. Now I noticed that Leslie box is up there, man that weight a ton to get that up there, just wow.
But you just seen is a professional banned from the 1970s performing. That's why this band focus is one of the best bands in the 1970s
I gues, we have a new Fan... i know them since over 50 Years :-D
Hell yea!
If you lived in the Netherlands, you can see Jan Akkerman still play guitar, with pretty regularly touring the country.
If u watch an interview with the singer from 2 years ago he said comedy was important to all the members in this song. So being blown sway by the talent and laughing at the same time is exactly what they were going for.
Thats so cool!
They did do a follow up B side called Hocus Pocus II
I wish I had a pound for every time I have danced to this song!! But absolutely not at this speed. I'd be in hospital. Love this song.
A reaction video that consists almost entirely of the reactor staring with his mouth open.
old school traditional grip on drums so, good
you know this is 50 years old. ? Imagine being 15 years old in 1970. Yes, I saw it all. Jan Akkerman was voted World's Greatest Living Guitarist in 1972 by Melody Maker Magazine. I guess it's never too late, glad you found this, now listen to the 6 minute studio version. the three guitar solo runs are perhaps the most creative and cleanest in extant.
It has lyrics
[Interlude 1]
Ôi orôrôi rôrôrôi rôrôrôi rôrôrôi rôrôrôi ohrorô poPÔ
Yôi orôrôi rôrôrôi rôrôrôi rôrôrôi rôrôrôi ohrorô
PoPÔ
Aaaah aaah aaah aaah
Uuuh oooh oooh ooooooooh
[Interlude 2]
Ôi orôrôi rôrôrôi rôrôrôi rôrôrôi rôrôrôi ohrorô poPÔ
Yôi orôrôi rôrôrôi rôrôrôi rôrôrôi rôrôrôi ohrorô
BoumPÔ
Aaaah aaah aaah aaah
Uuuh oooh oooh ooooooooh
[Interlude 3]
Tatrrrepôtetretrepiecôã-é-é-ô-hã-hén-Hén
Ôi trégueregué-dôi detêro deguedô
A tataro teguereguedaw
Teguereguedêro dêdow Ô-Éhr-Ôhr-Êhr-Êhr-Áhr-Ó
Hé Hã He How
[Interlude 4]
Ãi erêrãi rãrãrôi rôrôrôi rôrôrôi rôrôrôi ohrorô poPÔ
Yôi orôrôi rôrôrôi rôrôrôi rôrôrôi rôrôrôi ohrorôm
PomPÔ
Aaaah aaah aaah aaah
Uuuh oooh oooh ooooooooh
[Interlude 5]
Ôi orôrôi rôrôrôi rôrôrôi rôrôrôi rôrôrôi ohrorô poPÔ
Yôi orôrôi rôrôrôi rô
Aaaah aaah aaah aaah
Uuuh oooh oooh ooooooooh
UaaahuHahaha... Eee hi hi hááá
If you ever want to do a follow up on Focus, they have a genius level jam song called "Hamburger Concerto," and the absolute best version was on the Don Kirshner TV show. There's a good copy uploaded about 3 years ago of the "full performance," and you could skip past Hocus Pocus, & cue it up at the 6;10 mark.
It sounds so good. I think the people in that studio audience may have heard the best sounding live music in history, and didn't know it. Lol.
Welcome to the madness of Thijs Van Leer. This was part of the soundtrack of my stress-busting time in my teen years in my room.
This song was wild.
I've been listening to a bit of Focus over recent months, and that groover sure does give Ian Anderson a run for his money on the flute.
Yo. Late to the party. So seeing this on TV at Midnight or later. In the military, barracks TV lounge. You think the TV folks went crazy. Navy SPs came thinking a brawl had broken out. No fighting they, left. Good Times
The show only gave them half time needed to play the entire song. So they played really, really fast.
It's a joy to see young talented men to realise that there was great music in the seventies. Beatles was a great inventor specifically Mc Cartney. He tried everything. And it worked.
This song was sooooo good!
You being speechless is the best part of the reaction.
check out the studio version. Cleaner, you really get a feel for the song.
Helloween did a cover of this song, on the album 'Metal Jukebox'
Will add this to my Playlist!
This was not supposed to be a major hit, but it was. I remember when they played the full 7 minute version on the Rock station.
Thijs Van Leer is still performing‼️
The full length version is quite a piece of music.
Also had another hit song “Sylvia “. Also a banger.
📻🙂
Why The Midnight Special was one of the greatest TV shows of all time!
Heh! Great reaction! One of the most entertaining reactions to a very entertaining song. The song was written and performed slower but they were given only so much time for television per song. Instead of deleting parts to meet imposed time limits, they sped the song up considerably. Amazing musicians.
Focus were a Dutch band with very little English, hence they were an instrumental group and this was the closest to "lyrics" they did. Brilliant live.
Ahhh. You don't know the band. The first album had a few songs with vocals. On Van Leers solo Album, oh my love, he sings on a few compositions.
This song is CONTROLLED CHAOS
PS: Lead singer Thijs Van Leer is still alive and performing at age 75!
You're speechless. They were so talented. Hocus Pocus was basically just a jam the band would do every now and then. Nobody knew how successful the song would end up being. Focus had already released two albums 1971-72 prior to the song becoming a hit. It was on "Moving Waves" (1972) but I believe it wasn't til 1973 when it was all over radio in the U.S. It's been in numerous movies, the latest being Baby Drive with Kevin Spacey.
“Best band of the Netherlands” 🇳🇱 however underrated!
at the begining Mr Van Leer just prepared facial muscles fo the song
oh, I was legit concerned. Loved this dude, gosh just so much talent and passion.
Talent and creativity at its finest!!!
On that video they were told by the tv producers that they had to cut that song almost in half but they said f#ck you and they played it at double time! I've been a guitar player for 56 years now and that's one of the hardest songs to play correctly that I've ever played!! I'm going on 64 years old now but at least I got to see the best bands including Jimi Hendrix when I was only 7 years old. You should check out Deep Purple do child in time if you think Focus blew your mind.
midnight special asked them to shorten the song and it did not sit to well, so he really hammed it up and they sped it up too. i wore this record out as future metal head in the 70's
One of the best prog bands of the 70s imho. Shame they had to speed it up for the damned TV...
is it a shame tho? this version is the one most people hear first! best album is live at the rainbow with a bunch of slightly quicker/harder versions of their studio songs, but by that time Akkerman was apparently bored shitless of playing the same thing all the time, and intentionally throws a few things out through the gig so it has a couple of weird moments.