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Focus (band)

Focus was a Dutch progressive rock band of the 1970s. It was founded by classically trained organist/flutist Thijs van Leer in 1969 and leaned heavily on two of the Netherlands' contemporary music's heavyweights, Thijs van Leer and Jan Akkerman.

Guitarist Jan Akkerman joined the band in 1970. In 1971 the group released their second album, Moving Waves, which received international acclaim.

The band's biggest international hits were the guitar-based instrumentals "Sylvia" and "Hocus Pocus" (The title may have been a deliberate joke on DJs: "That was Hocus Pocus by Focus"). The latter also featured some eccentric vocalisations.

The musical egos of Van Leer and Akkerman proved incompatible. In 1976 Jan Akkerman left the band, which finally dissolved in 1978.

Hits