Голландтық прогрессивті рок тобы "Focus" тарихы

Dutch rock band

Focus is a Dutch progressive rock band formed in Amsterdam in 1969 by keyboardist, vocalist, and flautist Thijs van Leer, drummer Hans Cleuver, bassist Martijn Dresden, and guitarist Jan Akkerman. The band has undergone numerous formations in its history; since December 2016, it has comprised Van Leer, drummer Pierre van der Linden, guitarist Menno Gootjes, and bassist Udo Pannekeet. They have sold one million RIAA certified albums in the United States. After the addition of Akkerman to Van Leer's rock trio in late 1969, the band named themselves Focus and initially worked for a Dutch production of the rock musical Hair. Their debut album, Focus Plays Focus (1970), gained little attention but the follow up, Moving Waves (1971), and its lead single "Hocus Pocus", earned the band international recognition. Their success continued with Focus 3 (1972) and Hamburger Concerto (1974), the former containing their second hit single, "Sylvia". After recording two albums with various musicians, including guitarist Phillip Catherine, singer P. J. Proby, and drummers Colin Allen, David Kemper, and Steve Smith, Focus dissolved in 1978. They briefly reunited in 1990 and 1997. In 2002, Van Leer reformed Focus with a new line up that saw Van der Linden rejoining the group in 2004. The albums Focus 8 (2002), Focus 9 / New Skin (2006), and Focus X (2012) were well received, and Focus continue to perform worldwide. Their most recent album is Focus 11 (2018). They received a renewed interest after Nike used "Hocus Pocus" in its 2010 World Cup commercial Write The Future. Focus remain one of the most successful and influential rock bands from the Netherlands.

Focus formed in mid 1969 by keyboardist, vocalist, and flautist Thijs van Leer, who recruited bass guitarist Martijn Dresden and drummer Hans Cleuver after he met them at sessions for the Jazz and Poetry radio program in Hilversum, Netherlands. The three went on to start a new three piece band initially known as Thijs van Leer and the Rebaptised, playing a set formed mostly of cover songs by Traffic and original material mostly written by van Leer. In November 1969, during rehearsals at the theatre where van Leer performed as part of Ramses Shaffy's theatre group, They were invited to audition at the Victoria Ballroom, London after Dutch lyricist Lennaert Nijgh suggested them to Del Newman, the musical's director. Cast member Robin Lent claimed the production was suffering and Focus, taking part only for the money, "were also pretty rusty but this changed and everybody got into it". The show, launched in December 1969, involved six nightly performances a week and gave them space to rehearse in the afternoons for free and store their equipment. After Hair ended its run in June 1970, Focus declined an offer to tour the musical across the Netherlands for a year and a half and become a full time band. They had picked up more local gigs and dates across the country by this time, and had performed their first international gigs in Belgium and Spain.

In 1970, Focus reached contact with Hubert Terheggen, director of Radio Tele Music Belgium Holland, a music publishing division of Radio Luxembourg, through connections with Dresden's father. Terheggen enjoyed their music and signed them to his production company, secured deals with music publishers worldwide, and booked studio time for them to record their first album, Prior to signing Focus, Sire founder Seymour Stein had flown to the Netherlands to see the band perform: "Without a doubt they were the most original band I had ever heard". Though the album received little commercial attention it earned Focus their first Edison Award, and the January 1971 release of "House of the King" went to number 10 on the home chart. Late in 1970, Akkerman had become increasingly unhappy with Cleuver and Dresden as a rhythm section and missed his former Brainbox bandmate, drummer Pierre van der Linden. He thought the pair struggled to incorporate their own identity or musicianship into the music.

Following rehearsals at Groeneveld Castle in Baarn, the band recorded Focus II, better known as its international title Moving Waves, in April and May 1971 at Sound Techniques and Morgan Studios, London. It showcased the band exploring progressive rock with jazz fusion and classical music elements with extended pieces and lengthy solos. Akkerman changed his sound, moving from a Gretsch White Falcon to a 1957 Gibson Les Paul Custom which enabled him to "'sing' on the guitar" to compensate for the group's weak vocals. Its opening track, "Hocus Pocus", became one of the band's best known tracks, featuring a recognisable rock guitar riff and van Leer's yodelling, whistling, and nonsensical vocals that developed through an improvised jam session. Akkerman wrote "Janis" as a tribute to Janis Joplin, and its closer, "Eruption", is a 23 minute multi part track inspired by the operas Orfeo ed Euridice by Christoph Willibald Gluck and L'Orfeo by Claudio Monteverdi, combining rock, jazz and classical influences. Released in October 1971, Moving Waves became the band's international breakthrough, reaching number 2 in the UK, number 4 in the Netherlands, A performance of "Sylvia" from the Marquee Club, London aired on the BBC's Top of the Pops show. After a sell out UK tour in January 1973 that spanned 24 days, Focus completed their first of three North American tours in 1973 from February to April, supporting various acts including Gentle Giant, Frank Zappa and Yes. Upon their return, they toured the UK once more which included two sold out shows at the Rainbow Theatre, London in May 1973 which aired on BBC television. His arrival came eight days before the band's upcoming North American tour was to start. From January to March 1974, Focus recorded Hamburger Concerto at Olympic Studios with Vernon. Recording was met with growing tension, with van Leer, Ruiter and Allen working together during the day and Akkerman recording his parts in the evening. The album presents further classical music influences, opening with "Delitæ Musicæ", a lute piece Akkerman adapted from Delitæ Musicæ Cantiones by Dutch composer Joachim van den Hove. It closes with a six part, 20 minute conceptual title track inspired by Akkerman once eating a hamburger while watching cartoons at his hotel room in New York City and was put down in basic form during the 1973 Chipping Norton sessions. Released in May 1974, Hamburger Concerto peaked at number 5 in the Netherlands and number 20 in the UK. Van Leer claimed it was the band's "First proper work. It has strength and purpose", and Vernon later said the album and Moving Waves were the most rewarding on a second listen. Akkerman later felt the album suffered as his position in the group had weakened with van der Linden gone and claimed van Leer "broke up the tandem I had with Pierre rhythmically". Focus toured Hamburger Concerto from March 1974, starting with dates across Europe, including two in London that were filmed for broadcast on the BBC2 and US television music series In Concert. They began their first tour of Japan and Australia in June, followed by an appearance at the Reading Festival in August and the start of their fourth North American tour in September. They were featured on the nationally syndicated Don Kirshner's Rock Concert show aired live from Long Beach, California, giving the band widespread exposure. At one concert during the US leg, van Leer and Akkerman noticed a young Michael Jackson sitting in the front row. Upon their return, the band completed a 24 day tour of Europe and two compilation albums were released, The Story of Focus and Masters of Rock.

In 1975, the band gathered at Morgan Studios, Brussels to rehearse and record Mother Focus. The "House of the King"/"Avondrood" single was released in 1976; the latter track originally appeared on a Dutch compilation album. The pair followed the album with promotional videos and a local four date tour. They performed additional shows in the Netherlands, but disagreements between van Leer and Ruiter over material intended for an official release effectively split up the group, in 1999.

In 2001, van Leer was invited to a session by his stepson and bassist Bobby Jacobs, who was rehearsing with guitarist Jan Dumée and drummer Ruben van Roon. Jacobs and van Roon was former members of van Leer's side project Conxi, and Dumée had attended school with Jacobs and Gootjes. The sessions led to the group's decision to perform live as a Focus tribute band named Hocus Pocus "just for fun, nothing too serious". After some well received gigs in the Netherlands, the group resumed the Focus name and acquired Willem Hubers as their new manager and booking agent which led to several offers to perform worldwide. In the autumn of 2004, Smaak had left the group and replaced by a returning van der Linden. Van Leer was particularly happy about his return, and stated that their friendship was better than it had been in the 1970s. In July 2006, Dumée was replaced by guitarist Niels van der Steenhoven. This line up recorded Focus 9 / New Skin, released in September 2006 by Red Bullet Records.

In May 2010, Nike included "Hocus Pocus" as the main theme in its 2010 FIFA World Cup commercial, Write the Future. The advert aired on television worldwide which generated renewed interest in the band and led to "Hocus Pocus" entering the UK Singles Chart at number 57. In late 2010, Gootjes rejoined the band as a replacement to a departing van der Steenhoven. In 2011, American rapper J. Cole sampled "Hocus Pocus" in his song "Blow Up", which is featured in the game MLB 11: The Show. The band released their eleventh studio album Focus X, featuring cover art by Roger Dean, in November 2012. On 14 April 2014, the band released Golden Oldies on their own label, In and Out of Focus Records. It is a collection of re recorded versions of Focus songs. In 2016, the band released Focus 8.5 / Beyond the Horizon. It is credited to "Focus and Friends featuring Marvio Ciribelli", and was recorded during gaps in their 2005 South American tour with Brazilian musicians. In December 2016, Udo Pannekeet replaced Jacobs on bass. Focus performed at their second Cruise to the Edge event in February 2017, third in 2018, and fourth in 2019. The line up included Dumée returning on guitar after Gootjes was too ill to perform. In November 2018, Focus released their fourteenth studio album Focus 11 to coincide with their 20 date UK tour. The album was available at each venue which was followed by its full release on 25 January 2019, via Cherry Red Records. In November 2020, a box set containing new remasters of the band's albums from 1970 to 1976, with previously unreleased audio and video material, entitled 50 Years: Anthology 1970–1976, was released by Red Bullet Productions to commemorate the band's fiftieth anniversary. This was followed in June 2021 by the release of Focus 50, a set featuring live material recorded in 2017 in Rio de Janeiro and a disc entitled Completely Focused, containing studio re recordings of "Focus 1" through "Focus 12". Former bassist Bert Ruiter died on 22 March 2022, aged 75.