Hocus Pocus (song)
Encyclopedia
"Hocus Pocus" is a 1971 instrumental
from Focus II (aka Moving Waves), the second album by Dutch
rock group Focus
. It was written by guitarist Jan Akkerman
and flautist/keyboardist Thijs van Leer
. It was also released as a single with "Janis" as a B-side for the UK and "Hocus Pocus II" for the US.
It takes the form of a rondo
, consisting of alternation between a powerful rock chord riff
and varied solo "verses" (in the original all performed by Thijs van Leer
) which include yodeling
, organ
playing, accordion
, gibberish
lyrics, flute
riffs and whistling
. Focus recorded a special, faster radio version, which became a hit. When performing live, the group would play the tune even faster.
"Hocus Pocus" reached #20 in the UK and #9 in the US during the spring of 1973, and re-entered the UK charts at #57 on 6 June 2010 after being featured heavily on The Chris Moyles Show
and in a Nike
TV advert shown during the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
and Detroit Pistons
as well as Game 4 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals between the Phoenix Suns
and Seattle SuperSonics
during the 1997 NBA Playoffs
The final bars of the tune are used as the exit music on the second series of the BBC
TV sitcom Saxondale
.
The tune is played on the British motoring show Top Gear during one of The Stig
power laps, on series 6 episode 1, testing a CLS55 AMG.
The tune is featured in the movie The Stoned Age
, and was used in a 2008 McDonald's
commercial featuring the web site Line Rider
. In 2010, Nike
released a football World Cup advertisement titled "Write the Future", which uses an excerpt from the song.
The tune plays in the third season episode of My Name is Earl
entitled "Early Release", when Earl is locked in solitary confinement.
The opening of the tune plays in the 2008 Supernatural
episode "Ghostfacers".
The song was recently sampled for J. Cole's single Blow Up.
The U.S version was included in GuitarFreaks
& DrumMania
V5 Rock to Infinity.
Instrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
from Focus II (aka Moving Waves), the second album by Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
rock group Focus
Focus (band)
Focus is a Dutch rock band which was founded by classically trained organist/flautist Thijs van Leer in 1969, and is most famous for the instrumental pieces "Hocus Pocus" and "Sylvia"...
. It was written by guitarist Jan Akkerman
Jan Akkerman
Jan Akkerman is a Dutch guitarist. Akkerman is a distinctive guitarist, constantly experimenting with new equipment and guitars. Akkerman's distinctive guitar sound is characterised by his pioneering use of volume swells which produce a smooth, fluty, sustained tone, and other complex techniques...
and flautist/keyboardist Thijs van Leer
Thijs van Leer
Thijs Van Leer is a Dutch musician, singer and composer, best known for heading the Dutch progressive rock band, Focus, as primary vocalist, Hammond organ player, and flautist. He also yodels and whistles...
. It was also released as a single with "Janis" as a B-side for the UK and "Hocus Pocus II" for the US.
It takes the form of a rondo
Rondo
Rondo, and its French equivalent rondeau, is a word that has been used in music in a number of ways, most often in reference to a musical form, but also to a character-type that is distinct from the form...
, consisting of alternation between a powerful rock chord riff
RIFF
The Resource Interchange File Format is a generic file container format for storing data in tagged chunks. It is primarily used to store multimedia such as sound and video, though it may also be used to store any arbitrary data....
and varied solo "verses" (in the original all performed by Thijs van Leer
Thijs van Leer
Thijs Van Leer is a Dutch musician, singer and composer, best known for heading the Dutch progressive rock band, Focus, as primary vocalist, Hammond organ player, and flautist. He also yodels and whistles...
) which include yodeling
Yodeling
Yodeling is a form of singing that involves singing an extended note which rapidly and repeatedly changes in pitch from the vocal or chest register to the falsetto/head register; making a high-low-high-low sound.The English word yodel is derived from a German word jodeln meaning "to...
, organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
playing, accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
, gibberish
Gibberish
Gibberish is a generic term in English for talking that sounds like speech, but carries no actual meaning. This meaning has also been extended to meaningless text or gobbledygook. The common theme in gibberish statements is a lack of literal sense, which can be described as a presence of nonsense...
lyrics, flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
riffs and whistling
Whistling
Human whistling is the production of sound by means of carefully controlling a stream of air flowing through a small hole. Whistling can be achieved by creating a small opening with one's lips and then blowing or sucking air through the hole...
. Focus recorded a special, faster radio version, which became a hit. When performing live, the group would play the tune even faster.
"Hocus Pocus" reached #20 in the UK and #9 in the US during the spring of 1973, and re-entered the UK charts at #57 on 6 June 2010 after being featured heavily on The Chris Moyles Show
The Chris Moyles Show
The Chris Moyles Show is the current BBC Radio 1 breakfast show in the UK, and has been since Chris Moyles became the station's breakfast show presenter on 5 January 2004. From 2004 to 2007, the show was broadcast 6:55–10:00 am each weekday, but since 15 October 2007 it has started from...
and in a Nike
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
TV advert shown during the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Use in media
TNT used the song as an introduction to Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals between the Atlanta HawksAtlanta Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are part of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association .-The first years:...
and Detroit Pistons
Detroit Pistons
The Detroit Pistons are a franchise of the National Basketball Association based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The team's home arena is The Palace of Auburn Hills. It was originally founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana as the Fort Wayne Pistons as a member of the National Basketball League in 1941, where...
as well as Game 4 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals between the Phoenix Suns
Phoenix Suns
The Phoenix Suns are a professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association and the only team in their division not to be based in California. Their home arena since 1992 has been the US...
and Seattle SuperSonics
Seattle SuperSonics
The Seattle SuperSonics were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle, Washington that played in the Pacific and Northwest Divisions of the National Basketball Association from 1967 until 2008. Following the 2007–08 season, the team relocated to Oklahoma City, and now plays as...
during the 1997 NBA Playoffs
1997 NBA Playoffs
The 1997 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1996–97 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Conference champion Chicago Bulls winning the NBA championship by defeating the Western Conference champion Utah Jazzfour games to two...
The final bars of the tune are used as the exit music on the second series of the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
TV sitcom Saxondale
Saxondale
Saxondale is a British television situation comedy programme, starring Steve Coogan and co-written by Steve Coogan and Neil Maclennan. The series is directed by Matt Lipsey and produced by Ted Dowd. Coogan and Henry Normal served as executive producers...
.
The tune is played on the British motoring show Top Gear during one of The Stig
The Stig
The Stig is a character in the British motoring television show Top Gear. The character plays on the anonymity of racing drivers' full-face helmets, with the running joke that nobody knows who, or indeed what, is inside the character's racing suit. The character was the creation of presenter Jeremy...
power laps, on series 6 episode 1, testing a CLS55 AMG.
The tune is featured in the movie The Stoned Age
The Stoned Age
The Stöned Age is a 1994 American comedy film directed by James Melkonian, set during the 1970s about two long haired stoners named Michael Hubbs and Joe Connolly and one night cruising Southern California looking for alcohol, parties, and chicks.-Plot summary:The story takes place in Torrance,...
, and was used in a 2008 McDonald's
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...
commercial featuring the web site Line Rider
Line Rider
Line Rider is an internet game. Versions are available for Microsoft Silverlight and for Flash. It was originally created in September 2006 by Boštjan Čadež , a Slovenian student...
. In 2010, Nike
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
released a football World Cup advertisement titled "Write the Future", which uses an excerpt from the song.
The tune plays in the third season episode of My Name is Earl
My Name Is Earl
My Name Is Earl is an American television comedy series created by Greg Garcia that was originally broadcast on the NBC television network from September 20, 2005, to May 14, 2009, in the United States...
entitled "Early Release", when Earl is locked in solitary confinement.
The opening of the tune plays in the 2008 Supernatural
Supernatural (TV series)
Supernatural is an American supernatural and horror television series created by Eric Kripke, which debuted on September 13, 2005 on The WB, and is now part of The CW's lineup. Starring Jared Padalecki as Sam Winchester and Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester, the series follows the brothers as they...
episode "Ghostfacers".
The song was recently sampled for J. Cole's single Blow Up.
The U.S version was included in GuitarFreaks
GuitarFreaks
is a music video game series produced by Konami. The player uses a controller to simulate the playing of an electric guitar. The game consists of music predominantly from rock and roll and J-Pop genres, and is now in its 19th version, GuitarFreaks V8, which was released in March 28, 2011...
& DrumMania
DrumMania
is a music video game series produced by Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc., where colored notes travel down the screen which correspond with color coded parts of an electronic drum set...
V5 Rock to Infinity.
Cover versions
- Power metalPower metalPower metal is a style of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. The term refers to two different but related styles: the first pioneered and largely practiced in North America with a harder sound similar to speed metal, and a...
band HelloweenHelloweenHelloween is a German power metal band founded in the mid 1980s by members of Iron Fist and Powerfool. The band was a pioneering force in the European Power Metal movement and their second and third studio albums, Keeper of the Seven Keys, Pt...
included a cover of the tune in their 1999 album Metal JukeboxMetal Jukebox-Personnel:*Andi Deris - vocals*Michael Weikath - guitar*Roland Grapow - guitar*Markus Grosskopf - bass*Uli Kusch - drums...
. - Iron MaidenIron MaidenIron Maiden are an English heavy metal band from Leyton in east London, formed in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. Since their inception, the band's discography has grown to include a total of thirty-six albums: fifteen studio albums; eleven live albums; four EPs; and six...
covered it for the European DVD version 2006 single "Different World"Different World (song)"Different World" is the first track from English heavy metal band Iron Maiden's 2006 album A Matter of Life and Death. The song is the band's thirty-fifth single, and is also the second single from the album, released on 14 November 2006 in the United States, and 26 December 2006 in Europe...
. - Rock guitarist Gary HoeyGary HoeyGary Hoey is a surfer-rock musician.- Early life and early career :At fourteen, Hoey often lingered outside Boston's renowned Berklee College of Music, making friends and offering to pay for lessons. To devote his time to music, he dropped out of high school and began playing Boston's local clubs...
released several instrumental renditions of this tune on various albums, such as his 1993 release, Animal Instinct. - The pop/classical artist Vanessa-MaeVanessa-MaeVanessa-Mae Vanakorn Nicholson , known professionally as Vanessa-Mae , is an internationally known British violinist. Her music style is self-described as "violin techno-acoustic fusion", as several of her albums prominently feature the techno style...
did a cover with violin on her 1998 album StormStorm (Vanessa-Mae album)-Track listing:# "Summer Haze"# "Storm" # "Retro"# "Bach Street Prelude"# "Leyenda"# " Can, Can "# "Happy Valley"# "A Poet's Quest "...
. - Punk band The VandalsThe VandalsThe Vandals are an American rock band established in 1980 in Huntington Beach, California. They have released ten full-length studio albums and two live albums and have toured the world extensively, including performances on the Vans Warped Tour...
also covered it on their second album, When in Rome Do as the VandalsWhen in Rome Do as the VandalsWhen in Rome Do as the Vandals is the debut album by the Huntington Beach punk rock band The Vandals, released in 1984 by National Trust Records. It was the band's first full-length LP. Its title is a play on the phrase "When in Rome, do as the Romans do", as the Vandals was also the name of a...
. - British band MarillionMarillionMarillion are a British rock band, formed in Aylesbury, England in 1979. Their recorded studio output comprises sixteen albums generally regarded in two distinct eras, delineated by the departure of original vocalist & frontman Fish in late 1988, and the subsequent arrival of replacement Steve...
covered it on their live album Friends, released in 2007. - British heavy metalHeavy metal musicHeavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
band Diamond HeadDiamond Head (band)Diamond Head are an English heavy metal band formed in 1976 in Stourbridge, England. The band is recognised as one of the leading members of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and is acknowledged by later bands like Metallica and Megadeth as an important early influence.-Early history:Formed by...
included a cover of this tune in a medley at the end of their set from their 2000 live album Live - In the Heat of the NightLive - In the Heat of the NightLive - In The Heat Of The Night is a live album by heavy metal band Diamond Head recorded at the Wolverhampton Wulfrun Hall during their 1991 comeback tour...
. - During the Foo FightersFoo FightersFoo Fighters is an American alternative rock band originally formed in 1994 by Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl as a one-man project following the dissolution of his previous band. The band got its name from the UFOs and various aerial phenomena that were reported by Allied aircraft pilots in World War...
' Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace Tour in 2008 they performed a small cover during their performance of "Stacked Actors." - TR3TR3TR3 is the Tim Reynolds Trio. Founded by Reynolds in 1984, there have been numerous members to come and go during its history.-Members:Current line-up:* Tim Reynolds - Guitars, Vocals* Mick Vaughn - Bass* Dan Martier - DrumsFormer Members:...
featuring Tim ReynoldsTim ReynoldsTim Reynolds is a Grammy nominated multi-instrumentalist known as both a solo artist and as the lead guitarist for Dave Matthews Band...
covered this tune during their performance on July 24, 2008 at the 10,000 Lakes Festival10,000 Lakes FestivalThe 10,000 Lakes Festival was an annual four-day music festival in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, at the Soo Pass Ranch that was held since 2003. 10KLF is currently on hiatus due to financial losses and was not held in 2010. Its name refers to Minnesota's nickname, "The Land of 10,000 Lakes"...
at the Soo Pass Ranch in Detroit Lakes, MinnesotaDetroit Lakes, Minnesota-Demographics:As of the official census of 2000, there were 7,348 people, 3,319 households, and 1,845 families permanently residing in the city. The population density was 980.4 people per square mile . There were 3,782 housing units at an average density of 504.6 per square mile...
. - Chad SmithChad SmithChad Smith is an American musician, best known as the longtime and current drummer of Red Hot Chili Peppers. Smith is also the drummer of the hard rock supergroup Chickenfoot which includes Sammy Hagar, Joe Satriani, and Michael Anthony, former Deep Purple vocalist Glenn Hughes' backing band and...
of the Red Hot Chili PeppersRed Hot Chili PeppersRed Hot Chili Peppers is an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles in 1983. The group's musical style primarily consists of rock with an emphasis on funk, as well as elements from other genres such as punk, hip hop and psychedelic rock...
covered this tune in the Buddy Rich Memorial Concert for Drum Channel. - Brendon SmallBrendon SmallBrendon Small is an American sitcom writer/producer, actor, comedian, voice actor, composer, and musician...
of MetalocalypseMetalocalypseMetalocalypse is an American animated television series, created by Brendon Small and Tommy Blacha, which premiered on August 6, 2006 on Adult Swim...
/DethklokDethklokDethklok is both a virtual band featured in the Adult Swim animated program Metalocalypse, as well as a real band created to perform the band's melodic death metal music in live shows. The band was created by Brendon Small and Tommy Blacha. The music heard on Metalocalypse is performed by Brendon...
performed this tune on his 2009 tour with the School of Rock All Stars.