Focus (band)

Van der Linden had been the drummer during the band's most successful period during the early 1970's. Gerry Marsden maintained a career as a television personality, and starred in the West End musical, Charlie Girl. In October 2004 Pierre van der Linden took over on drums. They disbanded in 1966 (see 1966 in music). In 2001 Thijs van Leer re-formed Focus with Jan Dumée (guitar), Bobby Jacobs (bass) and Bert Smaak (drums) and recorded a new album called Focus 8. By 1965, though, their popularity was rapidly declining on both sides of the Atlantic and they soon seemed un-hip. In 1985 Van Leer and Akkerman reunited for an unsuccessful Focus album. The band also starred in a moderately successful film called Ferry Cross the Mersey.

In 1976 Jan Akkerman left the band, which finally dissolved in 1978. Marsden began writing most of their own songs, including "It's All Right" and "Ferry Cross the Mersey". The musical egos of Van Leer and Akkerman proved incompatible. Despite this early success, Gerry and the Pacemakers never had another number one single in the UK. The latter also featured some eccentric vocalisations and yodeling. 1). 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"). 1 in the UK -- the first time this feat had ever been achieved (first three singles by a performer all reach no.

In 1971 the group released their second album, Moving Waves, which received international acclaim. Their next two songs, "I Like It" and "You'll Never Walk Alone", both reached no. Guitarist Jan Akkerman joined the band in 1970. They began recording in 1963 with "How Do You Do It?"; the song became a #1 hit. It was founded by classically trained organist/flautist Thijs van Leer in 1969 and leaned heavily on two of the Netherlands' contemporary music's heavyweights, Thijs van Leer and Jan Akkerman. They rivalled the Beatles early in their career, playing in the same areas of Hamburg, Germany and Liverpool, England. Focus was a Dutch progressive rock band of the 1970s. Gerry Marsden formed the group in the late 1950s with Fred Marsden (his brother), Les Chadwick and Arthur Mack.

Sylvia. Like the Beatles, they came from Liverpool and were also managed by Brian Epstein. Hocus Pocus. Gerry & the Pacemakers was a British rock and roll group during the 1960s, and one of the few groups to challenge the Beatles in popularity.