That's right, folks, this is what we were doing before a lot of you were born. 😃

The only standing ovation in the Midnight Special's glorious run.

@garyzink1927

7 күн бұрын

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.

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!

@siwlasilva

8 ай бұрын

Oh, that's what happened! I was wondering why it was so fast... 😊

@TheWolffAndTheMelody

8 ай бұрын

I keep watching and I enjoy it more and more

@Warlock_UK

7 ай бұрын

@@siwlasilva I'm presuming it was that, plus a *lot* of drugs :D

@corneliusantonius3108

7 ай бұрын

The Dutch are used to fit everything in tights spaces.

@NonEuclideanTacoCannon

7 ай бұрын

Wasn't that sort of the plot of that movie That Thing You Do?

Finally someone reacts to the full version. Thanks 🙏🏻

@TheWolffAndTheMelody

8 ай бұрын

Dude it was brilliant!

@muppeteer

7 ай бұрын

The full version of the contraction...:)

@jeffreyisenberg830

4 ай бұрын

Minus the whistling.

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😅

Thijs van Leer and his flute. My musical hero for so many years and still going strong.

@TheWolffAndTheMelody

8 ай бұрын

thats so cool! This was great

@black4pienus

8 ай бұрын

My dad (77) loves him!

@scambammer6102

8 ай бұрын

doing prog cruises in the Carribean lol

I love that the Midnight Special uploaded the full version of this. There's been a cut-down version kicking around KZread for a decade, but now finally people get the see the whole performance.

@berserkrhadley

7 ай бұрын

My first time seeing this version... At first, I thought someone had edited in some extra segments. Thrilled to see this.

@hulldanfan

7 ай бұрын

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

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!!

@TheWolffAndTheMelody

8 ай бұрын

This was amazing!!!

@DerEchteBold

7 ай бұрын

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.

@russellmorgan5611

7 ай бұрын

The original "pop yodeler" was an Australian called Frank Ifield back in the 60's.

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!

“Best band of the Netherlands” 🇳🇱 however underrated!

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.

Its one of those bands when you first hear them, you want to hear more. 50 years i've been listening to them.

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.

@bjrnhagen2853

7 ай бұрын

hes much better than clapton

@SuperDutchjohn

7 ай бұрын

Jan played Clapton into a depression and Clapton knew it!

@scubasmog

5 ай бұрын

​@@bjrnhagen2853Different genre. Both very talented.

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.

@andytilley7205

7 ай бұрын

Dude. They have over 12 albums and are still touring. You've obviously not listened much to thier works.

@batmojuice5704

7 ай бұрын

You’re right, I didn’t know. We should all give them a fresh listen.

@Leesmapman

6 ай бұрын

@@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.

Helloween did a cover of this song, on the album 'Metal Jukebox'

I think the facial expressions in the beginning was Thijs van Leer preparing himself to do this song at twice the speed. lol

@TheWolffAndTheMelody

8 ай бұрын

I actually saw others say the same thing.

this is the long version ive never seen thx loads

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. 📻🙂

I consider Jan the guitarist the godfather of shred! What a great performance of this, wonderful watching your mind break!

@Georgeth-kb6rg

2 ай бұрын

AMEN !

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.

This is a longer version of this performance than I've seen before.

One of the best prog bands of the 70s imho. Shame they had to speed it up for the damned TV...

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."

@TheWolffAndTheMelody

8 ай бұрын

Wow!!! I gotta dive into Ayreon more

@BrendonChase_2015

8 ай бұрын

@@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!

Wow, I don't remember this being this fast! 😲

@ivanheffner2587

7 ай бұрын

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.

The guitarist really shreds - crazy fun song

They were jamming out!! Looking forward to the future of the community Brother. You should change "Ex Metal Elitist" to "Open Minded Reactor.""

@TheWolffAndTheMelody

8 ай бұрын

Ohhhhh thats brilliant!

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 ... ✌

A good comedic song. I have to work on my yodeling. Do some F*CKING METAL YODELING 🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪

@TheWolffAndTheMelody

8 ай бұрын

YESSSSS

@unwrittencraft8781

8 ай бұрын

i can yodelling a bit...but he is great at it

"Moving Waves" is the album to go to...............especially "Tommy"!

This is their Circus number. So much more beautiful Music from Focus.

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

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.

When introducing this on my radio show I can't help but say "You all know the words, so sing along !"

@TheWolffAndTheMelody

8 ай бұрын

hahaha thats amazing

One person reviews this, then every moron on KZread 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.

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 !!

50 yrs ago--i remember watching this on TV

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.

old school traditional grip on drums so, good

First and Only full standing ovation in the 9 years of The Midnight Special.

great. there passed so many time without hearing this. They are awsome😂

@TheWolffAndTheMelody

8 ай бұрын

this was soooo great!

Yeah man, this is the kind of music we used to watch on TV. Midnight Special was a freaking great show.

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.

@TheWolffAndTheMelody

2 ай бұрын

I loved this song! So good

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

@TheWolffAndTheMelody

6 ай бұрын

I loved it! So good!

A reaction video that consists almost entirely of the reactor staring with his mouth open.

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

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.

@TheWolffAndTheMelody

7 ай бұрын

I loved this so much! What an amazing performance!

I hear they still tour in GB. If you can find the full-length video of this it is even more impressive and crazy.

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.

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!

I have many happy memories head banging to this 40 years ago.

Jan Akkerman was voted best guitar player back in the 70's...

This brings back so many memories. Thank you :)

These Guys are Legends! Jan Akkerman was one of the best guitar Players of the 70ies, but of cause they all Smash IT.🎉

Welcome to Thijs Van Leer's world of chaos.

Incredible live performance! Thank you for sharing and reacting.

@TheWolffAndTheMelody

8 ай бұрын

It was so fun!

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

@TheWolffAndTheMelody

8 ай бұрын

Dude, there was soooo much great stuff!

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.

@TheWolffAndTheMelody

8 ай бұрын

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.

A Victorian child would literally explode if he heard this. Like not metaphorically

I was twelve years old when the song came out on the radio.

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.

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.

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!

Thijs Van Leer, the Focus lead "singer," has a video online of his great 2022 flute performance of Bach with an orchestra. Check out Edgar Winter's live performance of Frankenstein from the same era,if you don't already know it.

the guitarist is fellow countryman Jan Akkerman. that pushed Eric Clapton from first place in Melody Makers.

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.

@TheWolffAndTheMelody

7 ай бұрын

Dude, this was so good! I Loved it!

@Kgio-2112

6 ай бұрын

And more importantly, sweeping.

'Which narcotics did you use when doing this gig?' - 'Yes!'

Always amusing to listen to the following generations ,being totally bemused, dumdfounded and lost for words;back then,in our heyday ,that was the norm for some European bands to escape the American basic rock structure,King Crimson, Genesis, Heny Cow, Magma in France, Can in West Germany, a really fertile time for an alternate reality in music.Great time.

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!

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.

I know what you mean by wanting to laugh. The first time I heard this I laughed out loud from pure joy. You should check out their album "Hamburger Concerto." It's awesome.

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.

@TheWolffAndTheMelody

5 ай бұрын

Much love to you dude! Thanks for the love man!

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.

@Kgio-2112

6 ай бұрын

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.

at the begining Mr Van Leer just prepared facial muscles fo the song

@TheWolffAndTheMelody

8 ай бұрын

oh, I was legit concerned. Loved this dude, gosh just so much talent and passion.

Why The Midnight Special was one of the greatest TV shows of all time!

Many decades drummer here and Pierre Van Der Linden's drum timing is impeccable. Couldn't play it then, can't play it now.

They did do a follow up B side called Hocus Pocus II

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.

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.

you may like their ' Eruption' thanks

Talent and creativity at its finest!!!

If you lived in the Netherlands, you can see Jan Akkerman still play guitar, with pretty regularly touring the country.

Have not heard that in Years, thanks that was COOL.

Will add this to my Playlist!

check out the studio version. Cleaner, you really get a feel for the song.

Shredding from a well renown classical Lute player no less

yeah,some of these 70`s bands were so inventive and progressive,jus boggles the mind!

The pinnacle of Dutch prog :D (hope Arjen Lucassen doesn't read this ;) )

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.

1:40 (ish) 'What is @%%@$# wrong with that guy? ' I personally believe that he is warming up his facial muscles. 💪 This is the most unique things I have ever seen.

Yes, high is the way to watch this

Focus didn't want to edit their song to play in the time allotted so they played it in double time

I want to see anybody cover this.

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.

@TheWolffAndTheMelody

7 ай бұрын

This song was wild.

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.

The whistling was insane

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

That was kin sick