Maggie Roche RIP

Fripp was living in NYC at the time, and asked one of the sisters to sing on `Exposure' his first and magnificent solo LP. At least I THINK it was that way round. They can be heard with various choice quotes on Fripp's `League Of Gentlemen' album too.

 

I play the 45 of their version of the Hallelujah Chorus at least once every Christmas. Just beautiful.

 

Another Irish legend gone. Codladh sámh Maggie

 

I only found out this morning (when I saw her obituary on the NYTimes website) - I was on media blackout all day Friday into yesterday, at which point I was out in the streets most of the day.

I've lost track of how many times I saw them at the Bottom Line, as well as Town Hall and the Beacon. Met them at a couple of times at signings at Tower Records and was simply an uber fan for years. All three are absolute heroes to me as singers/songwriter/musicians but Maggie holds a special place in my heart for her lovely piano work, ridiculously clever (and often heartbreaking) lyrics and that voice that I loved for its range - I appreciated so much hearing another woman hitting low notes (that I sometimes felt limited me as a singer but she showed me the possibilities) but who could also soar up high like a bird when required.

Obviously some great songs already mentioned in this thread, but five quintessential Maggie Roche tracks for me are:
"Jill Of All Trades" (Seductive Reasoning)
"In The World" (Speak)
"The Scorpion Lament" (Keep On Doing)
"A Dove" (A Dove)
"This Feminine Position" (Nurds)

I am so sad and 65 is far too young. Thank you so much for everything, Maggie.

 

...I spell my last name....S...A....D...........

Maggie, you are beautiful and will be missed greatly.
My condolences to Suzzy and Terre.

 

And brother David, as well as her son, and the whole clan.

I read about The Roches in Billboard, during the first few days of my first professional radio gig (you wouldn't believe the variety of acts whose records the labels would service to Adult Contemporary stations in those days!). Their debut was one of the first LP's I pilched from the "I have no idea who this is" pile of promo records destined for the back warehouse on their way to the dumpster. I don't think anything could have prepared me for the impression "Hammond Song" had on me back then.

In addition to scouring the music mags for anything Roche-y (Down Beat gave up almost half an issue to covering them!), I searched for anything I could grab, back in the days when I would hit up every record store in every town my travels took me through. And I'll never forget just happening on them on Tom Snyder's Tomorrow Show (nice performances, but how awkward it was watching his trying to chat with Maggie - she was clearly too buzzed to go through that!). "Pretty and high and just a little bit shy", perhaps?

Two Roche-y dinner moments: My wife was volunteering at The Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis when they came in to promote their family album, Will You be My Friend?, so we got tickets. After the show we headed to The Green Mill for piza...and there was the Roche posse already sitting down to chow! Years later we caught a show in Sellersville PA, where the old restaurant was connected to the theater, and guess who took the table right next to ours! Nice quick chat, then let them enjoy their dinner.

After that show, I ran into Maggie during meet-and-greet, and I told her how fond I was of her writing, and I know family was more of her life than performing now, but, as long as she kept writing, we'll be there to savor it. She was so warm.

And one of the highlights of 35+ years of using my career to help me dig deeper into the music I love.

I wish their family a quick passage from that harsh sting of loss, to that serene place of fond memories.

 

The Roches' Christmas album is easily my wife's favorite contemporary holiday set(Mormon's/Bernstein is the #1 overall). Crisp,discernible lyrics,those harmonies,marred only by late -80s synthesizers in the background.
Me,all things Roche deserve listening.Once I discovered them from the s/t album,I've loved them,got a hold of the Maggie/Suzzy Columbia album,the kiddie material,etc. Maggie was part of a wondrous family that a writer like J.D. Salinger could only have hoped to create through fiction,but,though I,too, can only imagine,they are real.Boy,are they real. Seeing online bios,Maggie was born just a few weeks before I was. As screwy as 8th grade in an East Coast U.S. Catholic School was(just post-JFK assassination), if Maggie was one of those uniformed girls sitting in those boring,overheated,asbestos filled rooms,that would just made me nuts. Head over heels. A mischievous beauty full of herself. And speaking as one the same age-gone too d*** soon.

 

RIP.

 

The Roches were a real fixture of the NY Folkie scene in the late 70's and 80's. They had fantastic harmonies and good songs. This is sad news I am stunned.

 

I saw them in Cambridge, MA in 1979 I think it was, right as their first album was being released. Industry people were in the audience as well as the usual Cambridge folkies. Still enjoy playing their music and now I mourn the passing of this wonderful human being whose heartfelt music has added to what beauty there is in my life.

 

No offense or disrespect to anyone, but for all these big 'celebrity' deaths in the past year or so - even in cases where I have a few of their records in my collection - I didn't feel a thing. The Roches, OTOH, were a group I went and saw a lot of times - like many of you, mostly at the late, great Bottom Line. They're an important part of my history, and memories of seeing them are intertwined with memories of friends and loved ones that were often by my side at the shows - people that have also disappeared from my life. This one does hurt a bit.

Goodbye Maggie. I'll miss your deadpan humor, quiet authority and of course, the music.

 

Rest in peace. I only have one LP (Another World) but I quite liked it ...

 

RIP Maggie. Losing True is also the song that grabbed me. I got to hear them several times when we lived in the Boston area, starting with the tour for Another World. Speak is my favorite album of theirs overall, but for concentrated writing by Maggie you can't beat Seductive Reasoning.

 

I wish Warner would do a reissue series for the first 4 albums, especially the Fripp ones. Or a comp with some extras like the never on CD b-side "Second Family." How unlikely is such a thing, I know their records never sold much but I think the debut at least would move some units.

 

Only just got wind of this from an email from a family member who saw the NYTimes obit. D*mn! This sucks, way way too young.

So glad I saw all three of them play a bunch of times - always great. Got Maggie to sign my "Seductive Reasoning" CD at a gig near albany - she was sweet and let my Dad hang on to her guitar while she signed with a sharpie. We'll always remember your sweet voice.

-s1m0n-

 

This is a absolutely fabulous pro shot video of the Roches live in 1981 doing The Hammond Song (recorded for the BBC, I believe).

They nail the song. I mean, they ABSOLUTELY nail it, all harmonies spot on...Fabulous...

 

I played the first album for my wife last night, and she absolutely adored it.

One of those times which was a true "where has this been all my life?" moment. Was heartening to see.

 

Just wait till she hears the third album...

Keep us informed!

 

I'm a massive Roches fan, have all their stuff, and yet somehow I found out about Maggie's passing only a few days ago. I was not prepared.

The already discussed "Losing True" is my favorite Roches song. Phenomenal songwriting. Some of my other favorite Maggie compositions include "One Season," "Pretty and High," "The Feeling Is Mutual," "Broken Places," "In the World," "A Dove," and of course "Hammond Song."

Her voice is so memorable. Aside from the songs where she sang lead, her parts added so much to the songs all three sisters shared pretty much equally -- like the "on the wrong track" part in "Hammond." There's a clip on their website of them covering "Yakety Yak" on a TV show, where Maggie does the "don't come back" parts. So much fun.

Thank you, Maggie. Your contributions to the world improved the lives of many.

 

Nurds was well received, but we didn't get all the way through. High marks for "The Boat People" and "Bobby's Song". This is good for me too, as I haven't heard them in years.

 

Just wait till Keep on Doing, the third 'official Roches' and their masterpiece imho. Fripp always brought out the best....

 

Our beloved Miss Roche is being honored:

A Celebration of The Songs of Maggie Roche with a Holiday Twist – Suzzy Roche and Lucy Wainwright Roche with Special Guests – The Sheen Center

The Roches

Where Do I Come From | StorySound Records

Friends in NYC!
Come join us to Celebrate the Songs of Maggie Roche with SUZZY ROCHE AND LUCY WAINWRIGHT ROCHE and special guests THE INDIGO GIRLS, DAVE AND OONA ROCHE, RACHELLE GARNIEZ, DAISY PRESS, FELIX MCTEIGUE AND DICK CONNETTE! (there are not many seats left, but there's not a bad seat in the house)

Where Do I Come From is a collection of songs by Maggie Roche (1951-2017) that spans forty years, providing a glimpse into one of our most original American songwriters. Maggie was at the center of the long-running and much-admired music group The Roches, created with her sisters Terre and Suzzy. Maggie composed her songs for three voices to sing, fashioning the signature sound of The Roches. Where Do I Come From is a 32 track 2CD set of Maggie’s songs, spanning her entire music career from her 1979 duo album with her sister Terre, through the Roches 2007 reunion record. The collection, which has been compiled in close collaboration with Suzzy, also features 4 previously unreleased recordings: “Stayin’ Home,” an early song provides a snapshot of a young feisty Maggie as she ventures out into the world. “Down The Dream,” a live studio track, was recorded after word that Columbia Records had doubts about the progress Maggie and Terre were making in their recording sessions. Another version of the song wound up on Seductive Reasoning, but this demo is classic, unedited Maggie Roche. “Where Do I Come From,” the title track, was found among Maggie’s things after her death and is most likely the last song she wrote. The newly recorded Christmas song, “Christmas Love,” was not written in time to make it onto We Three Kings, the Roches beloved Christmas recording. Her family, in loving memory, sings “Christmas Love” for this collection.

 

Oh that's wonderful - thank you for posting this, @Hep Alien. Sure wish I was still in NYC to attend the tribute show but I will certainly be buying the compilation.

 

Such grand news! I'll be at the celebration in spirit, and beside myself in anticipation of hearing those unreleased tracks.