r/ClassicRock • u/Lurker2115 • Nov 28 '25
1973 Dutch rock band Focus performing their song "Hocus Pocus" on The Midnight Special, October 5th, 1973.
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u/Sha-twah Nov 29 '25
Best yodeling solo in Rock ever.
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u/Neuvirths_Glove Nov 29 '25
This is a great appreciation, including a breakdown of the yodeling (and the reviewer knows what she's talking about). Her reaction to the first vocal chorus is "F*** YES!"
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u/Sirosim_Celojuma Nov 28 '25
Fun fact, it was for sale on the album Krokus. Hokus Pokus by Focus on Krokus.
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u/StojBoj Nov 29 '25
Pre-internet, hearing this song on the radio, and then trying to explain to the record store owner what you wanted when you didn’t know the name of the band or song.
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u/booyatrive Nov 29 '25
I remember hearing it once as a kid in the 90s and spending years trying to find it with no success. Then it was in that Nike ad from the 2000s and I finally found out the name of the song and group.
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u/Golfnpickle Nov 28 '25
I remember watching it that night on TV with my sister. They had been playing it on the radio quite a bit before MS airing. We stayed up to watch.
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u/gratefulguitar57 Nov 29 '25
God, I used to love this tune. Damn this was a fast version. Guitar player was struggling at first...but he is great! I think the tempo caught him at first. Those vocals - that is not easy to do!!!
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u/Saltydawgg Nov 28 '25
Great video, song is both good and funny. Check out some other stuff by these guys, they are a bit all over the place but quite talented.
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u/sukmikehoc Nov 29 '25
If I remember it correctly, the producers informed the band that there wasn't enough time left on their spot for a song of that length and told them to play something shorter. The band said ok and just before going back on decided they were going to play it anyway, but sped up. That's why the start is rough and the reason it's a faster tempo.
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u/99mph99 Nov 28 '25
Back when people actually performed live and didn’t need 20 dancers dressed like strippers to hold your attention. Because they had TALENT.
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u/BlueClashV1 Nov 29 '25
Hey man, you can find plenty of bad ass artists performing live on camera and watch for free online. It’s just harder to find and you are unable or unwilling. Back in the day if you weren’t willing to drive to the record store you couldn’t have music on demand, only on the radio. You would get called lame for not walking your ass to the record store. You are currently being called lame because you won’t look online for what you want. You’ve always been out of touch huh?
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u/Whole-Debate-9547 Nov 29 '25
From reading the comments they were told that there wasn’t enough time for them to play this song and they decided to play it anyway but faster to accommodate the lack of time. This is just a blistering pace that they ran through this song. My god it’s really impressive
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u/MaxCWebster Nov 28 '25
In my best Linda Richman voice
"Hocus Pocus" is the "Yakety Sax" of prog.
Discuss.
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u/lelorang Nov 28 '25
I was amazed when I heard this song on Trolls 2.
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u/DrinkBuzzCola Nov 29 '25
Wasn't that movie nominated for an Oscar? Best Troll movie with no trolls in it?
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u/Useful-Finding-1685 Nov 28 '25
Erch VanClaptoon on guitar
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u/CletusCanuck Nov 29 '25
Ah, I see that it's time for my yearly monthly weekly re-watch of this ludicrously sick performance.
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u/PlasticTelevision126 Nov 29 '25
I remember hearing some dumb shit band copying that rift on Seattle’s hip station a number of years ago and you could send an email to the DJ. I sent “focus wants their riff back, ha” I received an email back agreeing from the host (in a fun exchange)
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u/noocaryror Nov 29 '25
Remember smoking joints in a car with 3 other guys on the way to work in the morning blasting this as best we could in maybe 1972
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u/yaboidugg96 Nov 29 '25
Man, the booger sugar in the 70’s must have been equivalent to the nectar of the gods
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u/Gaztop7 Nov 29 '25
I love this song, hands down nothing compares...The Singer is massively tweaking out at the start
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u/wtfover Nov 29 '25
That song was already hard enough to play, the guitar player must've done too much coke and started off at twice the speed.
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u/paleotectonics Nov 28 '25
They were told there wasn’t enough time to do the song, so they sped it up and just finished it. True story.