Maggie Roche of The Roches dies at 65

[Nvr2Thick]

Maggie Roche passed away yesterday, Saturday, 1/21/2017. The Roches had been among my favorite performers. Their songs are very personal, and often funny or wry. I've always loved how the three sisters' personalities and voices complimented or played against each other. I had made a point of seeing The Roches perform any time they played in New York in the 1980s, and I always loved their shows. This is a sad time for Maggie Roche's sisters, family, and friends. It's also a sad day for fans of Maggie Roche and The Roches.

 

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/21/arts/music/maggie-roche-dead-singer-songwriter.html

 

Maggie Roche, Who Led a Harmonic Trio of Singing Sisters, Dies at 65

By

JON PARELES

JAN. 21, 2017

 

Maggie Roche, left, performed with her sister Suzzy in 2005 in New York.

Credit Erin Baiano for The New York Times

 

Maggie Roche, the songwriter whose serene alto anchored the close harmonies of the Roches, her trio with her sisters Terre and Suzzy, died on Saturday. She was 65.

 

Suzzy Roche said the cause was breast cancer. Maggie Roche lived in New York City.

 

“She was a private person, too sensitive and shy for this world, but brimming with life, love, and talent,”

Suzzy Roche wrote

on the Roches’ Facebook page. “She was smart, wickedly funny, and authentic — not a false bone in her body — a brilliant songwriter, with a distinct unique perspective, all heart and soul.”

 

Ms. Roche developed a pop-folk songwriting style that could be droll or diaristic, full of unexpected melodic turns and often inseparable from the way the sisters’ voices

.

 

On albums from the early 1970s into the 2000s, Maggie Roche’s songs chronicled a woman’s life from early stirrings of independence (

) and amorous entanglements (“

”) to thoughts on longtime connection (

). They often mixed heartfelt revelations and flinty punch lines.

 

With the Roches, and in duos with each of her sisters, she released more than a dozen albums. The Roches never had a major hit, but the group maintained a devoted following. They shrugged off disappointments in “

,” a song the trio wrote together.

 

“We’d like to make a million dollars and be set for life,” Maggie Roche told The

Los Angeles Times

in 1995. “We’ve been lucky, though. We have a career, and that is a gift. I guess I want things to be easy, but that’s not the way it is.”

 

Margaret A. Roche was born Oct. 26, 1951, and grew up in Park Ridge, N.J. The sisters sang in Roman Catholic church choirs, and Maggie started writing songs after getting a guitar for her birthday in 1964. She and Terre formed a duo, performing at first for Democratic Party fund-raisers in New Jersey.

 

They attended a songwriting seminar given by Paul Simon at New York University in 1970, and he had them sing harmony on his 1972 album

 

Mr. Simon signed them to a production company he had formed for young musicians, and he was also among the producers of the Maggie and Terre Roche’s debut album, “Seductive Reasoning,” released in 1975.

 

Suzzy Roche joined her sisters in 1976 and, as a trio, the Roches became a local sensation at clubs in Greenwich Village. One of their stage favorites was a snappy three-part harmony version of the “Hallelujah” chorus from Handel’s “Messiah.”

 

Their 1979 debut album, “The Roches,” was produced by Robert Fripp of the band King Crimson. It included “The Married Men,” which was later recorded by Phoebe Snow.

 

Despite modest sales, the Roches persisted, making albums for Warner Bros. and, later, MCA. Their songs appeared in the soundtrack to the 1988 film “Crossing Delancey,” and in 1991, their voices were characters in the Steven Spielberg animated series “Tiny Toons Adventures.”

 

The Roches made a Christmas album, “We Three Kings,” in 1990, and a children’s album, “Will You Be My Friend?,” in 1994. The trio disbanded after the 1995 release of “Can We Go Home Now?” but Maggie and Suzzy Roche made albums as a duo in 2002 and 2004 and the Roches made a final trio album, “Moonswept,” in 2007.

 

Along with her two sisters, Ms. Roche is survived by her mother, Jude Roche; her brother, Dave; her son, Ed McTeigue; and her partner, Michael McCarthy.

[Whitman]

...As a trio, the Roches became a local sensation at clubs in Greenwich Village. One of their stage favorites was a snappy three-part harmony version of the “Hallelujah” chorus from Handel’s “Messiah.”

[+ WilliamM]

 

Hammond Song

[+ WmClarke]

Saw them in concert twice. I loved Maggie's song about her coat; I don't think it's on any of tbeir albums.

 

Love their Christmas album. I play it a lot--mostly around Christmastime but occasionally during other seasons.

[Nvr2Thick]

Saw them in concert twice. I loved Maggie's song about her coat; I don't think it's on any of tbeir albums.

 

Love their Christmas album. I play it a lot--mostly around Christmastime but occasionally during other seasons.

 

"My Winter Coat" is on Can We Go Home Now? - their second to last album (1995). It's a loooong song...

 

[+ WmClarke]

"My Winter Coat" is on Can We Go Home Now? - their second to last album (1995). It's a loooong song...

 

Thanks!

[Nvr2Thick]

Many of the more popular Roches songs feature either Terre or Suzzy on lead. Maggie's voice was a very interesting (IMO) near baritone contralto that was often the foundation or the "glue" to their arrangements. "The Scorpion Lament" features Maggie Roche's contralto. Terre is the most powerful singer of the trio, and Suzzy was often the "frontman" and most dominant personality. "Hammond Song" posted above by @WilliamM shows off the trio well, but also clearly demonstrates Terre's abilities. Another good Terre song is "Everyone is Good." As Suzzy noted in her statement yesterday Maggie is very shy. When watching live performances I found the subtleties to Maggie's very low key, soft-spoken, shy stage presence to be captivating.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEcl3n2RlLA

 

"One Season" is another great Roches song featuring Maggie. The song showcases The Roches humor and inventive arrangements.

 

[BasketBaller]

I've always loved this.

[TruthBTold]

Never2, thank for posting this. I have not thought about them for a while but remember now how much I listened to them in the '80s. Very smart lyrics and arrangements; a much different way to hear music. Sort of like Mary Margaret O'Hara, but with a lot more albums.

[Nvr2Thick]

Never2, thank for posting this. I have not thought about them for a while but remember now how much I listened to them in the '80s. Very smart lyrics and arrangements; a much different way to hear music. Sort of like Mary Margaret O'Hara, but with a lot more albums.

 

You're quite welcome, and wow! Thanks for reminding me of Mary Margaret O'Hara.