I'm a musician, retired music teacher, and believe me, I have conducted and played many a piece that I thought was in "what for?" or "WTF?" time lol...😂
@@thomastimlin1724 The original is actually a lost slower and is around 7 minutes long but because they had a limited time to play it they decided to play it faster rather than cut it short. This is also the only performance by a band that got a standing ovation on the show. Here is the full version, enjoy: Focus - Hocus Pocus (Midnight Special 1973 Live video, with missing parts, examples from 1974 video) ruclips.net/video/b5IHtbeSuZ4/видео.html
I absolutely love watching people hear this for the first time!! The smile on your face said it all! They were given a smaller time limit than the original song was and were asked to cut it down. Instead they just speeded up the song. It was a crazy performance but at that speed it really showed their talent, in particular the drummer who was controlling the pace! Thanks that was fun!
That's a myth. Neither they were given a time limit (they played other songs that night) nor they were asked to cut it down. They played faster because they wanted to. The myth was created by this video, which is a shorter version of the whole song with some parts cut out and that's what made people think that this was the whole performance of the song. The complete song is also available here on YT and it's only a few seconds shorter than the studio version.
@@Bren3669 There was a vocal section at the start before the one they started with and a 'breath control' section from between the flute and whistling parts that were cut out of this.
@@Bren3669 This is the edited version that was originally on tv, about four and a half minutes, just 2 years ago or so they finally released the unedited version of what was actually played and it's six mins, due to those frequent breaks it was easy to cut a few parts to make it fit the broadcast.
@ the original song is 6:41, why would they play it so much faster if they actually recorded for the amount of time that the original song last for? At that point they could’ve just played it at regular speed. Something isn’t adding up here.
I believe the young lady announcing the group Focus was a very young Gladys Knight [hosting the show], one of the greatest singers with her brothers they called the Pips, thus, Glady Knight and the Pips. They were great.
The singer/keyboardist/yodeler etc steals the show. But Jan Akkerman, the guitarist, might've been the fastest most technically proficient guitarist around back then. I'm not sure if anyone else could play like him then, maybe John Mclaughlin? He was really something.
You went through the "Focus Gauntlet"... But could you survive Edgar Winter's FRANKENSTEIN? It's got the Same flow and Energy.. And Edgar plays multiple instruments as well!
Well worth paying £1 or $1.34 to see them with 3,000 others in 1973 so 51 years ago now. 😀 They were given 4 minutes to play a 7-minute song:) This was not typical of this Dutch Group and "Love Remembered/" is one of the most beautiful tunes I have heard in my 70 years in London:)
@@innertube47 Yes,it was at The Croydon Greyhound Pub/Music Venue, and my money was well spent. Saw Genesis play their first ever Top Of The Bill performance when original Bill Toppers: "Bell 'n Arc" disbanded on the day of the gig which Wikipedia informs me was August 1972:) As for Lobe Remembered. Play in a dark room, in isolation, in silence, and imagine you are in an Arabian Deset:)
@@Isleofskye I also saw Thijs and Pierre in the current line up at Howden last year. Great stuff! I think it’s funny when people on the internet today talk about them being “underrated”, especially Jan. They were bloody massive! This reactor has got very good taste I might add..
@@innertube47 Great stuff, indeed, my friend. Yes, she does :) By coincidence, I, also, saw a Dutch Group: "Trace" in South East London at that time and would have seen "Golden Earring" too, HOWEVER, on this occasion I volunteered to sort out the arrangements for the gig for the first time and we arrived in Croydon but did not see the usual and expected, queue round the block, which was strange as it was the first 3,000 paid at the door. We got to the entrance only to discover that they played the previous week !! It was a VERY quiet "68" bus journey home interspersed with my best M8 calling me a xxxx lol That was the last time we ever fell out and he made any future plans. LOL
The "4 minutes to play a 7 minute song" is a myth. The myth was created by this video, which is a shorter version of the whole song with some parts cut out and that's what made people think that this was the whole performance. The complete song is also available here on YT and it's only a few seconds shorter than the studio version, even after being played faster than the studio version.
This song was a 8 plus minute song condensed into a 5 minute song, because the show would only give them a 5 minute set... this was a last minute ablid by the band because they didn't know that they were only getting 5 minutes on the show...
That's a myth. The myth was created by this video, which is a shorter version of the whole song with some parts cut out and that's what made people think that this was the whole performance of the song. The complete song is also available here on YT and it's only a few seconds shorter than the studio version.
This was actually about 14 minutes long. But right before they took the stage the producers of Midnight Special told them they had to cut it down to 3.5 minutes due to time constraints. The band all looked at one another and decided not to cut anything, they would just speed it up instead
14 minutes? Lol, the studio version is only around 6:45! Besides, that story that everyone keeps repeating is a myth. Neither they were given a time limit to play the song (they played other songs that night) nor they were asked to cut it down. They played faster because they wanted to. The myth was created by this video, which is a shorter version of the whole song with some parts cut out and that's what made people think that this was the whole performance of the song. The complete live version is also available here on YT and it's only a few seconds shorter than the studio version.
Haha The drummer was like an aquintance of my parents but i was a toddler at that time so i dont remember. Im still amazed as a Dutchie that nobody in this band took any drugs.
TV so limited time slot. Better unedited, builds. Love it, though wish Jan had taken the intro just a tad more seriously, knowing what he's capable of.
Note the drummer is using traditional grip where the left hand has the stick going through the fingers, wrist turned over half way to 3/4 of the way. He must be trained "properly" for back in the day, probably a jazz drummer as well. Most rock band drummers played with matched grip, wrist up, stick under the fingers and palm. Only the right hand stick is held this way here in traditional grip. Now about the guy yodeling and stuff.... I call this Yodel Rock lol...this has got be the best rock instrumental of the 70's...maybe of the century. Frankenstein by the Edgar Winter group os great too, but I would pout that at #2 beneath this one.
Saw them live in Glasgow a few months before this recording and again a few months after it 😱 Saw them again live last week - don't suppose any of us will live long enough to repeat this 🤣🤣🤣
The Studio version has a cleaner guitar riff and has a slightly slower tempo while keeping the energy. Back then, Shows like the Midnight Special gave Live Performers a set time limit for their sets, so many performers had to race through their songs or cut out Instrumental Solos to accommodate... otherwise they'd be in the middle of a song when the show ended.
Crazy performance by an utterly great band, the album moving Waves is an utter classic and has elements of prog-rock that are awesome. Jan Ackerman was one of the great guitar players of his era. You should do the Eruption suite off of side 2, it is an ultimate headphones song. Thanks for hearing great, classic music! Enjoy. 🔥🎵🎸🎤🎹🎻🎶🔥
Lovely reaction. Saw them in 1972. Prog rock specialists but with jazz and medieval thrown in. Best live band I ever saw. Spoilt me really because they were matchless.
I told you it was a hoot! I think you enjoyed it from your reaction. I see someone else suggested 'Frankenstein' by the Edgar Winter Group. Another 'different' song.
The original track is slower and longer 6 plus mins , this version was live and they were only givern a slot of less than 5 mins so had to speed up . Its a performance thats hard to forget , and it makes me smile
Again the myth. They always played this fast live, this version was cut by 2 verses to fit in the time slot. Full version on YT + other fast live performances.
@@AuxesisHyperbole666 Yeah but the actual performance was only released one or two years ago, it'll take a while longer until everybody catches up and such a decades old myth gets rooted out.
I used to have this on an album many years ago. I was a compilation album of great guitar tracks. As someone has said it was played much slower on the album. It was on the album to show off Jan Akkerman's guitar playing, which, imo, sounded better at the normal pace.
Better than the Song itself is just the reaction of people hearing it for the first time. 🙂 Awesome Reaction and Song! If i may sugest a Song for you: "Sailor on the Seas of Fate" by "OSIRIS" from their 1982 Album "OSIRIS". Like Hocus Pocus and Focus's Album "Moving Waves", "OSIRIS" just blew me away.
Really want to explore FOCUS? Check out Eruption - it's a 22+ minutes track on their 2nd Album (the same one which has HOCUS POCUS). Then we can parlez 😉 💕
Unfortunately, you listened to the wrong version of this performance. You listened to the version which cut out about have the "verses," not the full version. ruclips.net/video/GyxSvZOby54/видео.html
4/4 time I think you mean.
Yes that’s it!!
I'm a musician, retired music teacher, and believe me, I have conducted and played many a piece that I thought was in "what for?" or "WTF?" time lol...😂
@@thomastimlin1724 The original is actually a lost slower and is around 7 minutes long but because they had a limited time to play it they decided to play it faster rather than cut it short. This is also the only performance by a band that got a standing ovation on the show. Here is the full version, enjoy: Focus - Hocus Pocus (Midnight Special 1973 Live video, with missing parts, examples from 1974 video) ruclips.net/video/b5IHtbeSuZ4/видео.html
These started out as a pre-concert back-stage warm-up exercise that became one of their biggest hits - the other hit being "Sylvia",
Love the "Sound of Music" reference. I played the part of Friedrich my sophomore year of high school. Wild group sound. Great reaction! Thanks
I absolutely love watching people hear this for the first time!! The smile on your face said it all! They were given a smaller time limit than the original song was and were asked to cut it down. Instead they just speeded up the song. It was a crazy performance but at that speed it really showed their talent, in particular the drummer who was controlling the pace! Thanks that was fun!
That's a myth. Neither they were given a time limit (they played other songs that night) nor they were asked to cut it down. They played faster because they wanted to. The myth was created by this video, which is a shorter version of the whole song with some parts cut out and that's what made people think that this was the whole performance of the song. The complete song is also available here on YT and it's only a few seconds shorter than the studio version.
One of the only standing ovations on the Midnight Special. The 70's was such an experimental and expressive time.
Aah the edited version of this performance, it really is worth finding the full length version.
seemed like the full performance, which part got cut?
That's exactly what I said to my wife right after the first time we made love. 💪
@@Bren3669 There was a vocal section at the start before the one they started with and a 'breath control' section from between the flute and whistling parts that were cut out of this.
@@Bren3669
This is the edited version that was originally on tv, about four and a half minutes, just 2 years ago or so they finally released the unedited version of what was actually played and it's six mins, due to those frequent breaks it was easy to cut a few parts to make it fit the broadcast.
@ the original song is 6:41, why would they play it so much faster if they actually recorded for the amount of time that the original song last for? At that point they could’ve just played it at regular speed. Something isn’t adding up here.
I believe the young lady announcing the group Focus was a very young Gladys Knight [hosting the show], one of the greatest singers with her brothers they called the Pips, thus, Glady Knight and the Pips. They were great.
As a Dutch I would recommend Focus - "House of the King" (they lived during that time in a Dutch Castle😊) and "Sylvia". Good luck! 🤞🏻🍀🍀🍀
The singer/keyboardist/yodeler etc steals the show. But Jan Akkerman, the guitarist, might've been the fastest most technically proficient guitarist around back then. I'm not sure if anyone else could play like him then, maybe John Mclaughlin? He was really something.
Alvin Lee
i seen Focus live 1983
You went through the "Focus Gauntlet"... But could you survive Edgar Winter's FRANKENSTEIN? It's got the Same flow and Energy.. And Edgar plays multiple instruments as well!
Including playing the amp!
Well worth paying £1 or $1.34 to see them with 3,000 others in 1973 so 51 years ago now. 😀
They were given 4 minutes to play a 7-minute song:)
This was not typical of this Dutch Group and "Love Remembered/" is one of the most beautiful tunes I have heard in my 70 years in London:)
Me too, saw them twice in Leeds, and yes, Love Remembered.. and many others!
@@innertube47 Yes,it was at The Croydon Greyhound Pub/Music Venue, and my money was well spent. Saw Genesis play their first ever Top Of The Bill performance when original Bill Toppers: "Bell 'n Arc" disbanded on the day of the gig which Wikipedia informs me was August 1972:)
As for Lobe Remembered. Play in a dark room, in isolation, in silence, and imagine you are in an Arabian Deset:)
@@Isleofskye I also saw Thijs and Pierre in the current line up at Howden last year. Great stuff!
I think it’s funny when people on the internet today talk about them being “underrated”, especially Jan. They were bloody massive!
This reactor has got very good taste I might add..
@@innertube47 Great stuff, indeed, my friend. Yes, she does :) By coincidence, I, also, saw a Dutch Group: "Trace" in South East London at that time and would have seen "Golden Earring" too, HOWEVER, on this occasion I volunteered to sort out the arrangements for the gig for the first time and we arrived in Croydon but did not see the usual and expected, queue round the block, which was strange as it was the first 3,000 paid at the door. We got to the entrance only to discover that they played the previous week !! It was a VERY quiet "68" bus journey home interspersed with my best M8 calling me a xxxx lol That was the last time we ever fell out and he made any future plans. LOL
The "4 minutes to play a 7 minute song" is a myth. The myth was created by this video, which is a shorter version of the whole song with some parts cut out and that's what made people think that this was the whole performance. The complete song is also available here on YT and it's only a few seconds shorter than the studio version, even after being played faster than the studio version.
The immortal Gladys Knight giving the introduction. You should cover her someday as well.
This song was a 8 plus minute song condensed into a 5 minute song, because the show would only give them a 5 minute set... this was a last minute ablid by the band because they didn't know that they were only getting 5 minutes on the show...
That's a myth. The myth was created by this video, which is a shorter version of the whole song with some parts cut out and that's what made people think that this was the whole performance of the song. The complete song is also available here on YT and it's only a few seconds shorter than the studio version.
This performance was cut to fit the show. They always played this fast live, full version on YT.
This was actually about 14 minutes long. But right before they took the stage the producers of Midnight Special told them they had to cut it down to 3.5 minutes due to time constraints. The band all looked at one another and decided not to cut anything, they would just speed it up instead
14 minutes? Lol, the studio version is only around 6:45! Besides, that story that everyone keeps repeating is a myth. Neither they were given a time limit to play the song (they played other songs that night) nor they were asked to cut it down. They played faster because they wanted to. The myth was created by this video, which is a shorter version of the whole song with some parts cut out and that's what made people think that this was the whole performance of the song. The complete live version is also available here on YT and it's only a few seconds shorter than the studio version.
Enjoy: Focus - Hocus Pocus (Midnight Special 1973 Live video, with missing parts, examples from 1974 video) ruclips.net/video/b5IHtbeSuZ4/видео.html
What again? NOT TRUE - it's had 2 verses cut to fit the time slot!
Haha The drummer was like an aquintance of my parents but i was a toddler at that time so i dont remember. Im still amazed as a Dutchie that nobody in this band took any drugs.
It is a pleasure to watch you enjoying a song. Have fun. Greetings from Thailand
I saw them twice live twice in the 70s, fantastic lunacy, they were great.
I was 13 years old when this came out crazy your face was a picture of total surprise🤣🤣🤣🤣
Theshe Dutchmen shure are crazee.
This is the cut down version as well.
This is not the complete song, for some reason they cut out some parts to make the video shorter. The complete version is also available here on YT.
TV so limited time slot. Better unedited, builds. Love it, though wish Jan had taken the intro just a tad more seriously, knowing what he's capable of.
Note the drummer is using traditional grip where the left hand has the stick going through the fingers, wrist turned over half way to 3/4 of the way. He must be trained "properly" for back in the day, probably a jazz drummer as well. Most rock band drummers played with matched grip, wrist up, stick under the fingers and palm. Only the right hand stick is held this way here in traditional grip. Now about the guy yodeling and stuff....
I call this Yodel Rock lol...this has got be the best rock instrumental of the 70's...maybe of the century. Frankenstein by the Edgar Winter group os great too, but I would pout that at #2 beneath this one.
Great to hear this again. Focus are something else. Sylvia was the first ever single I bought.
Saw them live in Glasgow a few months before this recording and again a few months after it 😱
Saw them again live last week - don't suppose any of us will live long enough to repeat this 🤣🤣🤣
The Studio version has a cleaner guitar riff and has a slightly slower tempo while keeping the energy.
Back then, Shows like the Midnight Special gave Live Performers a set time limit for their sets, so many performers had to race through their songs or cut out Instrumental Solos to accommodate... otherwise they'd be in the middle of a song when the show ended.
Nope, they always played this fast live and this version was cut to fit studio time. Full version on YT.
Amsterdam's finest. The original is nearly 7 minutes long. The other great Dutch band of the time was Golden Earring. Try 'Candy's Gone Bad' from them
The timing was due to time running out for the program. Focus sped it up to get i in before the program ended.
Never seen that. Heard it before, but seeing it is a totally other thing!! Awesome,
They were given 4 minutes to play a 7 minute song:)
Listen to the album version. This was done on tv and had to be cut down and sped up a little.
Crazy performance by an utterly great band, the album moving Waves is an utter classic and has elements of prog-rock that are awesome. Jan Ackerman was one of the great guitar players of his era. You should do the Eruption suite off of side 2, it is an ultimate headphones song. Thanks for hearing great, classic music! Enjoy. 🔥🎵🎸🎤🎹🎻🎶🔥
If you're looking for time-signatures and excellent musicians - look for YES! Long one: Close to the edge, shorter: Roundabout
Lovely reaction. Saw them in 1972. Prog rock specialists but with jazz and medieval thrown in. Best live band I ever saw. Spoilt me really because they were matchless.
I told you it was a hoot! I think you enjoyed it from your reaction. I see someone else suggested 'Frankenstein' by the Edgar Winter Group. Another 'different' song.
The original track is slower and longer 6 plus mins , this version was live and they were only givern a slot of less than 5 mins so had to speed up . Its a performance thats hard to forget , and it makes me smile
Again the myth. They always played this fast live, this version was cut by 2 verses to fit in the time slot. Full version on YT + other fast live performances.
@@AuxesisHyperbole666
Yeah but the actual performance was only released one or two years ago, it'll take a while longer until everybody catches up and such a decades old myth gets rooted out.
House of the King is a great Focus song, and it has changing time signatures.
I don't know what kind of music you write , produce or sing - but I bet its nothing like this ! trust me this hit different even in 1973
It’s no where near how tecky this is
This is what you get when the producers tell you to stuff a near seven minute song into five minutes.
I used to have this on an album many years ago. I was a compilation album of great guitar tracks. As someone has said it was played much slower on the album. It was on the album to show off Jan Akkerman's guitar playing, which, imo, sounded better at the normal pace.
Better than the Song itself is just the reaction of people hearing it for the first time. 🙂
Awesome Reaction and Song!
If i may sugest a Song for you: "Sailor on the Seas of Fate" by "OSIRIS" from their 1982 Album "OSIRIS".
Like Hocus Pocus and Focus's Album "Moving Waves", "OSIRIS" just blew me away.
only standing o ever on midnight special.
Really want to explore FOCUS? Check out Eruption - it's a 22+ minutes track on their 2nd Album (the same one which has HOCUS POCUS). Then we can parlez 😉 💕
Amazing. Huh?
Too bad you did the short version of this performance...the real version is much better
The long short version?
@@mikeconway9849the real version being this version without the cuts, available on YT.
😂😂😂😂😂😂
react to Marcelito Pomoy singing ALL I ASK OF YOU will blow your mind
Unfortunately, you listened to the wrong version of this performance. You listened to the version which cut out about have the "verses," not the full version. ruclips.net/video/GyxSvZOby54/видео.html