The Roches

Career

Maggie and Terre Roche attended Park Ridge High School in the late 1960s but dropped out to tour as a duo, with Maggie writing most of the songs and Terre contributing to a few. Their break came when Paul Simon brought them in as backup singers on his 1973 album There Goes Rhymin' Simon. With his assistance and an appearance by the Oak Ridge Boys, they released their only duo album, Seductive Reasoning, in 1975. Robert Christgau reviewed it in 1981, noting that female singing duos function as mutual support groups and that the album showed an assured, relaxed, and reflective women's sensibility without ideological feminism.

Later in the 1970s, youngest sister Suzzy joined to form the Roches trio. The sisters parlayed bartending jobs at Gerde's Folk City into stage appearances, an experience commemorated in their song "Face Down at Folk City" from the 1985 album Another World. There they met many future collaborators. Terre and Suzzy began writing songs as well, and Robert Fripp produced their first trio album, The Roches (1979).

Maggie's song "The Married Men" became the trio's biggest hit for Phoebe Snow, who performed it as a duet with Linda Ronstadt on Saturday Night Live. The Roches were invited to perform on the show a few months later in 1979 at Simon's behest, singing "Bobby's Song" and "The Hallelujah Chorus".

Family

Maggie Roche's voice was an unusual contralto, nearly a baritone. Her sister Terre sang soprano, covering the highest notes, while Suzzy handled the middle range. On tour, the three accompanied themselves on guitars and keyboards, sometimes with extra musicians. Terre still performs in New York City and has led a Sunset Singing Circle in Battery Park since 2002, sponsored by the Parks Department. Their brother David is a singer-songwriter with a solo album who frequently supported the trio on recordings. Maggie's son, Felix McTeigue, released three albums, one with his group Filo, and worked as a producer. Suzzy's daughter, Lucy Wainwright Roche, sang on albums by the Roches and McTeigue, put out her own EPs and three albums, and toured opening for Amos Lee and the Indigo Girls. Her father is Loudon Wainwright III, and she is half-sister to singers Martha and Rufus Wainwright.

Other appearances

Maggie and Terre Roche are credited on "Was a Sunny Day" from Paul Simon's 1973 album There Goes Rhymin' Simon. The Roches were musical guests on Saturday Night Live in 1979, singing "Bobby's Song" and their a cappella "Hallelujah Chorus". Terre sang on Robert Fripp's 1979 album Exposure. The trio were featured on an episode of the televised music series Soundstage in 1983.

They performed "Mr. Sellack" and "Another World" on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. The Roches appear on two songs from Philip Glass's 1986 collection Songs from Liquid Days: the title track and "Forgetting" with Linda Ronstadt. Suzzy played Marilyn in the 1988 film Crossing Delancey, and the Roches provided several songs for its soundtrack, including "Nocturne" which also appears on their 1989 album Speak; an earlier arrangement of their cover of "Come Softly to Me" is on Another World.

They contributed to two tracks on the 1988 Disney tribute album Stay Awake. The trio voiced singing cockroaches also called the Roches on a 1990 episode of Tiny Toon Adventures. They performed the theme song "Someday My Prince Will Come" for the short-lived 1991 TV series Princesses. In the 1994 film A Weekend in the Country, they played themselves performing "Pregnant Pause".

The band wrote songs for The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure (1994). A 1995 K-tel VHS titled A Family Concert includes performances by the Roches and the Music Workshop for Kids. They were part of the supergroup Desolation Angels on the 1996 album Anthem, and the Carolling Carollers on the 1996 album Christmas Songs. They appeared on the episode "Music" of Tracey Takes On...

The Roches contributed "Wedding Bell Blues" to the 1997 Laura Nyro tribute Time and Love, and "The Bells" to the 1998 Phil Ochs tribute What's That I Hear?. Their song "Hammond Song" appears on the 1999 compilation Live at the World Café: Volume 9. Suzzy produced and performed on the 1999 album Moms That Cook by the Music Workshop for Kids.