“The song deserves its place in rock history, and of course we continue to embrace it,” he concludes. And van Leer concedes that Hocus Pocus still overshadows their every move. “She sent the song up brilliantly.”įocus continue to tour and record. “ Vanessa Mae’s is the best of all,” he says. He does, however, praise the most unusual rendition of all. “Those other versions made me proud, but I don’t like any of them,” admits van Leer.
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“Even after all these years it’s never, never boring.”Īs well as resurfacing during the end credits of TV comedy Saxondale, Hocus Pocus has been covered by several rock bands including Iron Maiden, Helloween and Marillion. After moving to Salem, Mass., teenager Max Dennison (Omri Katz) explores an abandoned house with his sister Dani (Thora Birch) and their new friend, Allison (Vinessa Shaw). "The crowd goes crazy whenever we play it, and we go crazy as well,” van Leer enthuses. One thing that Focus will never be brave enough to do is drop Hocus Pocus from their live shows – not that they even wish to. “Another thing that separated us from so many bands was that we play loudly and quietly,” he adds. “The Moving Waves album did have Eruption, a song that took up a whole side of vinyl and which we still play live, but even at its longest Hocus Pocus was more like a single,” explains van Leer. These days it rarely lasts for longer than 10 minutes. Hocus Pocus reached No.20 in the UK (on its second release, a year after its original 1972 release), and No.9 in the US more than a further year later.Īs demonstrated by Focus’s 1973 album Live At The Rainbow, Hocus Pocus was slightly elongated when performed live, but the band resisted the temptation to make it the centrepiece of their show. “We even considered calling it Crocus for a short while,” he confides with a smile.įocus really found their feet with their second album Moving Waves (on which Hocus Pocus was the opening track), which later prompted eventual long-term producer Mike Vernon to observe: “You wonder if it’s the same band ”.īut it was the decision to make it a single by slashing three minutes from its original six-and-a-half that eventually established Focus as stars on both sides of the Atlantic. With no lyrics per se, it was van Leer who proposed giving it a title that rhymed with the band’s name. Apart from the addition of a manic flute solo, a flourish of accordion and some scat vocal ad-libs, the track was put down in just a couple of takes, and in almost exactly the same form as it had emerged at the castle.
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The band were impressed that Polydor Records had paired them with Mike Vernon, who had produced Fleetwood Mac and John Mayall. Hocus Pocus was recorded partly in London in April/May 1971.
“Without boasting, it was something that I just knew.” “Although I wasn’t aware that it might become a rock’n’roll classic, I had a feeling in my spine that it would make history,” he says.
Like many composers of hits, van Leer knew instantly that he and Akkerman had created something of lasting value. 1973 Wait Till Your Father Gets Home (TV Series) (story director - 1 episode) - The Swimming Pool (1973).