![]() ![]() “Those other versions made me proud, but I don’t like any of them,” admits van Leer. “Even after all these years it’s never, never boring.”Īs well as resurfacing during the end credits of TV comedy Saxondale, Hocus Pocus has been covered by several rock bands including Iron Maiden, Helloween and Marillion. "The crowd goes crazy whenever we play it, and we go crazy as well,” van Leer enthuses. One thing that Focus will never be brave enough to do is drop Hocus Pocus from their live shows – not that they even wish to. “Another thing that separated us from so many bands was that we play loudly and quietly,” he adds. “The Moving Waves album did have Eruption, a song that took up a whole side of vinyl and which we still play live, but even at its longest Hocus Pocus was more like a single,” explains van Leer. These days it rarely lasts for longer than 10 minutes. Hocus Pocus reached No.20 in the UK (on its second release, a year after its original 1972 release), and No.9 in the US more than a further year later.Īs demonstrated by Focus’s 1973 album Live At The Rainbow, Hocus Pocus was slightly elongated when performed live, but the band resisted the temptation to make it the centrepiece of their show. “We even considered calling it Crocus for a short while,” he confides with a smile.įocus really found their feet with their second album Moving Waves (on which Hocus Pocus was the opening track), which later prompted eventual long-term producer Mike Vernon to observe: “You wonder if it’s the same band ”.īut it was the decision to make it a single by slashing three minutes from its original six-and-a-half that eventually established Focus as stars on both sides of the Atlantic. With no lyrics per se, it was van Leer who proposed giving it a title that rhymed with the band’s name. Apart from the addition of a manic flute solo, a flourish of accordion and some scat vocal ad-libs, the track was put down in just a couple of takes, and in almost exactly the same form as it had emerged at the castle. The band were impressed that Polydor Records had paired them with Mike Vernon, who had produced Fleetwood Mac and John Mayall. Hocus Pocus was recorded partly in London in April/May 1971. “Without boasting, it was something that I just knew.” “Although I wasn’t aware that it might become a rock’n’roll classic, I had a feeling in my spine that it would make history,” he says. Some focus groups talked about how much fun a 3-d or VR game would be, so I went above and beyond! I instructed the tech team to modify our games so that they can be played in 13D.Like many composers of hits, van Leer knew instantly that he and Akkerman had created something of lasting value. Speaking of games, I had the fantastic idea of revamping all the existing Neopet games. ![]() Next time you want to play a game of Cave Glider you might have to navigate your way through hundreds, maybe even thousands of random links before you find it! Sounds like an adventure to me! Who wants to know exactly where they are going? There's no mystery in it! Which is exactly why I will be changing every single link on the site to randomly redirect users to click on them. Who wants words that are easy to read? Boring people! That's why all of the text on our website will soon be reversed, meaning the only way to read it will be by holding a mirror up to your computer screen. Our servers can only handle so many compliments! If you just can't get enough, here are some more design changes I will be implementing in the near future. Just don't send us too many messages praising my genius and the new look. So sit back, relax, and scroll through some of the spectacular design changes I've instituted to make Neopets more abstract and fascinating. And we are bringing an air of sophistication to Neopia. Which is why the Neopet Team wisely called for my expertise! Even though I'm working from home I've already started to revamp the entire site. After listening to focus groups it was clear you guys wanted a more spontaneous and inventive layout. ![]() Don't get me wrong I love Neopets (my last name is Neopia after all!), but the site was in desperate need of a style redesign. Nick Neopia coming at you live with a massive overhaul of Neopets. I somehow talked my way into another gig with Neopetz. This avatar was awarded for visiting the Y22 Redesign preview, presented by Nick Neopia, on April 1, 2020. ![]()
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