The Roches

Noted for their lush harmonies, quirky songs, and impressive stylistic range, the three Roche sisters -- <a href="spotify:artist:7qNM8YIGU7ryxtLoFbLiVG">Maggie</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:686KQTJfAzuK051AUuerEi">Terre</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:2i3jxUiXF9HbbvYfVlxYCL">Suzzy</a> -- were among contemporary folk music's most endearing artists. The Roches began singing together while growing up in New York during the late '50s and early '60s, taking to the streets of the city each holiday season to regale passersby with Christmas carols. At the end of the decade both <a href="spotify:artist:7qNM8YIGU7ryxtLoFbLiVG">Maggie</a> (the oldest) and <a href="spotify:artist:686KQTJfAzuK051AUuerEi">Terre</a> (the middle daughter) quit school to begin touring professionally as a duo. In 1970 they met <a href="spotify:artist:2CvCyf1gEVhI0mX6aFXmVI">Paul Simon</a>, who tapped them to sing backup on his There Goes Rhymin' Simon album. He also helped get them a contract with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Columbia%22">Columbia</a>; their debut LP, Seductive Reasoning, followed in 1975, but went largely unnoticed. For a time, the Roches considered quitting the music business, even leaving New York to retreat to Louisiana; eventually they returned north, at which time <a href="spotify:artist:2i3jxUiXF9HbbvYfVlxYCL">Suzzy</a> left college to join the group full-time.

Restored to a trio, the Roches became a staple of the Greenwich Village folk circuit and a favorite of local critics. In 1979, they signed to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Warner+Bros.%22">Warner Bros.</a> to issue a self-titled LP produced by <a href="spotify:artist:5HKpBHDxIDNdtmEAGXGntl">Robert Fripp</a>, earning acclaim for their exquisite harmonies (equal parts <a href="spotify:artist:686KQTJfAzuK051AUuerEi">Terre</a>'s ethereal upper register, <a href="spotify:artist:7qNM8YIGU7ryxtLoFbLiVG">Maggie</a>'s near-baritone low notes, and <a href="spotify:artist:2i3jxUiXF9HbbvYfVlxYCL">Suzzy</a>'s midrange acrobatics). While the track "The Married Men" later scored a successful cover by <a href="spotify:artist:3iuobQyYhofKRr5W6HZoKt">Phoebe Snow</a>, The Roches itself was not a hit. For 1980's Nurds, they changed direction, augmenting their basic folk sound with a rock rhythm section comprising former <a href="spotify:artist:0S7Zur2g8YhqlzqtlYStli">Television</a> bassist Fred Smith and Patti Smith Group drummer Jay Dee Daugherty. <a href="spotify:artist:5HKpBHDxIDNdtmEAGXGntl">Fripp</a> returned to produce 1982's Keep on Doing, a largely acoustic effort featuring cameos from members of <a href="spotify:artist:7M1FPw29m5FbicYzS2xdpi">King Crimson</a>. When neither it nor its follow-up, 1985's Another World, was a commercial success, the trio left <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Warner%22">Warner</a> to return to touring.

The Roches finally resurfaced on record in 1989, issuing Speak on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22MCA%22">MCA</a> to the usual press acclaim and negligible sales. Their next effort, 1990's We Three Kings, was a Christmas album fondly recalling the sisters' roots. After 1992's A Dove, the trio left <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22MCA%22">MCA</a> to record a children's album, Will You Be My Friend?, issued on the tiny <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Baby+Boom%22">Baby Boom</a> label in 1994. Continuing to cater to the younger set, that same year they recorded the soundtrack to the animated feature The Land Before Time II. For 1995's Can We Go Home Now, they signed to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Rykodisc%22">Rykodisc</a>; another <a href="spotify:artist:2yOOT5yTaqQoo3EAN2UWIV">Roche</a> sibling -- brother <a href="spotify:artist:2yOOT5yTaqQoo3EAN2UWIV">David</a> -- was on hand to lend backing vocals. In early 1997, the Roches announced they were, at least temporarily, going their separate ways. While <a href="spotify:artist:7qNM8YIGU7ryxtLoFbLiVG">Maggie</a> remained quiet, <a href="spotify:artist:686KQTJfAzuK051AUuerEi">Terre</a> soon formed a new group, <a href="spotify:artist:686KQTJfAzuK051AUuerEi">Terre Roche & Her Moodswings</a>, and later that same year <a href="spotify:artist:2i3jxUiXF9HbbvYfVlxYCL">Suzzy</a> issued her first solo LP, Holy Smokes. In 2003 <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Rhino%22">Rhino</a>/<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Warner+Bros.%22">Warner Bros.</a> released the Collected Works of the Roches compilation, prompting the trio to re-form after an 11-year hiatus for 2007's excellent Moonswept. They toured only sporadically thereafter, and <a href="spotify:artist:7qNM8YIGU7ryxtLoFbLiVG">Maggie Roche</a> died of cancer a decade later in January of 2017. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi