I bet you loved Focus

If you grew up in the 70s, I bet you loved Focus. I certainly did. They didn’t sound like any other band and I hold firmly to the view that all flute in rock music is good flute. They were inescapable around 72/73. They were hugely popular in the UK between 71-74 with 4 albums, 3 of which went top 5 and Focus 3 got to #1.
But that was pretty much it, yet those 3 years were held in such high regard that they still have a following here and tour, albeit a Thijs Van Leer-led version.
They started in 1969 and I didn’t realise they funded themselves, and there’s a soundtrack to prove it, by being the house band for a London production of Hair which was produced by famous British actor, Victor Spinetti, who was the TV producer in the Hard Day’s Night movie.
This was before their first record In And Out Of Focus, which didn’t chart, but is very good. The House Of The King track was used in the UK for a TV theme music for Don’t Ask Me with Magnus Pyke who was popular at the time.
They followed it up with the brilliant Focus II or Moving Waves as it was more commonly known. It’s the one with Hocus Pocus opening it - a longer version than the single. Jan Akkerman’s playing was incredible. It was so fast, it sounded speeded up. But they kept the melody and it’s sometimes referred to as proto-metal. And I can see why. The second side is dedicated to over 22-minutes of Eruption, a lovely suite of music that features brilliant flute and guitar.
The third record is Focus 3, a double album, which featured the instrumental single Sylvia which got to #4 in the UK and #89 in the USA. A marvelous creation which mixes songs and extended jams.
Anonymus II is 26 minutes long, spread across two sides. Some of this was on their Live At The Rainbow live album which came next and made #9. And is a record that, for a while, I would play at lunchtime, when I went home from school. I used it as a kind of fire break on the day. It seemed to calm my soul; a kind of mindfulness, I suppose, though I couldn’t have articulated it like that.
And that was it. There are plenty of other records, including a bizarre one with PJ Proby which got to #29. The Focus tracks are good, the Proby stuff not essential. Ship Of Memories is studio outtakes, didn’t chart in the UK but is very good. Later releases are of a high standard as are a whole raft of Jan Akkerman’s solo albums.
They’ve always made me feel good. All the yodelling is a bit bizarre but it works, somehow, and it all feels very cultured, with classical influences and really thoughtful music, without losing any rock n roll power.

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