This is one of the most batsh*t crazy instrumentals in the history of rock. Focus, a Dutch prog band, released their Moving Waves album (also known as Focus II in some circles) in 1973 in Europe. It became the first record picked up for North American distribution by Seymour Stein’s Sire Records. Seymour, a musical rebel at heart, believed he could turn the track into a hit single. He did. Hocus Pocus became a staple of FM radio for a while, and a vulgar edit hit number nine on the Billboard Hot 100.
Yodeling? Check. Alto flutes? Check. An accordion? Okay…
Seeing the band play this thing live was something, too. They kept playing it faster and faster and faster…
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