News

The world first heard the voices of Maggie and Terre Roche on Paul Simon’s 1972 LP There Goes Rhymin’ Simon.  With youngest sister Suzzy, The Roches soon carved out a remarkable career of their own. Between 1979 and 2007, Maggie, Terre, and Suzzy pushed the boundaries of so-called folk music.  The songs of The Roches were personal, funny, heartbreaking, vulnerable, witty, sad, joyful, and utterly original as the sisters bared their hearts and souls in striking harmony.   Tomorrow, on September 11, Cherry Red’s Lemon Recordings and Second Disc Records will celebrate The Roches with Runs in the Family: The Warner Bros./Rykodisc Albums, a new 3CD box set.

Runs in the Family brings together the sisters’ debut The Roches (1979) produced by King Crimson legend Robert Fripp; Nurds (1980) produced by Simon and Garfunkel collaborator Roy Halee; Keep On Doing, also with Fripp (1982); Another World (1985) with productions by Richard Gottehrer (“My Boyfriend’s Back,” “I Want Candy”), Edd Kalehoff (the themes to The Price Is Right, Double Dare), and others; and Can We Go Home Now (1995), helmed by the group and Stewart Lerman (Lady Gaga, Marshall Crenshaw).  Each album has its own sonic identity, with the sisters’ distinctive harmonies and personal songwriting always at the fore.  The Roches’ genre-bending albums remain timeless, moving, and surprising.

In addition to such key tracks as “Hammond Song,” “Mr. Sellack,” “The Married Men” (memorably performed by Linda Ronstadt and Phoebe Snow on Saturday Night Live), “This Feminine Position,” “Runs in the Family,” a stunning arrangement of Handel’s “The Hallelujah Chorus,” and a delightful cover of The Fleetwoods’ “Come Softly To Me” (as heard in the film Crossing Delancey), the set also includes two rare bonus tracks: the never-before-on-CD Robert Fripp-produced non-LP B-side “Second Family” and a radio performance of “My Winter Coat.”  Note that “Sex Is For Children,” from the album Keep On Doing, has been newly titled “Timothy Tim” for this release at the request of its songwriter, Terre Roche.

This new collection comprises all of the trio’s recordings under the Warner Music umbrella.  Between the Warner Bros. and Rykodisc periods, The Roches recorded for labels including Real Live, MCA, and Baby Music Boom; following Can We Go Home Now, the group recorded one final album, 2007’s Moonswept for the 429 label.  Maggie passed away in 2017 at the age of 65 while both Terre and Suzzy continue to perform and record as solo artists today.

Nick Robbins has newly mastered the audio for this set.  Its three CDs are housed in a clamshell case with design by Paul Bevoir.  The deluxe booklet contains rare and previously unpublished photos plus special, community-based track-by-track liner notes contributed by The Roches’ fans and friends (including Linda Ronstadt, Christopher Guest, Robert Fripp, The Fleetwoods’ Gretchen Christopher, and Linda Thompson) as well as Terre Roche, who co-produced the set with TSD’s Joe Marchese.

In the New York city area?  If so, please come and join us as we celebrate the release of Runs in the Family at Rough Trade Below, Rockefeller Center!  On Wednesday, September 23 at 6:00 pm, Terre Roche will be signing copies of the new box set, speaking with Rolling Stone scribe David Browne, and performing a short set.  We promise a night to remember!

Runs in the Family: The Warner Bros./Rykodisc Albums is out tomorrow from Cherry Red/Lemon and TSD.  It’s currently available directly from Cherry Red or Amazon at the links below. (As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.)

The Roches, Runs in the Family: The Warner Bros./Rykodisc Albums (Cherry Red/Lemon/Second Disc QCDLEM3BX269, 2026) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1

The Roches (Warner Bros. LP BSK 3298, 1979)

1. We
2. Hammond Song
3. Sellack
4. Damned Old Dog
5. The Troubles
6. The Train
7. The Married Men
8. Runs In The Family
9. Quitting Time
10. Pretty And High

Nurds (Warner Bros. LP BSK 3475, 1980)

11. Nurds
12. It’s Bad For Me
13. Louis
14. Bobby’s Song
15. The Boat Family
16. My Sick Mind
17. The Death Of Suzzy Roche
18. Factory Girl
19. One Season
20. This Feminine Position

CD 2

Keep on Doing (Warner Bros. LP 23725-1, 1982)

1. The Hallelujah Chorus
2. Losing True
3. Steady With The Maestro
4. The Largest Elizabeth In The World
5. On The Road To Fairfax County
6. I Fell In Love
7. The Scorpion Lament
8. Want Not Want Not
9. Timothy Tim
10. Keep on Doing What You’re Doing/Jerks on the Loose

Another World (Warner Bros. LP 1-25321-1, 1985)

11. Love Radiates Around
12. Another World
13. Come Softly To Me
14. Missing
15. Face Down At Folk City
16. The Angry Angry Man
17. Weeded Out
18. Older Girls
19. Love to See You
20. Gimme a Slice

CD 3

Can We Go Home Now (Rykodisc CD RCD10299, 1995)

1. The Great Gaels
2. Move
3. You (Make My Life Come True)
4. Christlike
5. Home Away From Home
6. Can We Go Home Now
7. When You’re Ready
8. I’m Someone Who Loves You
9. So
10. Holidays
11. My Winter Coat

Bonus Tracks

12. Second Family (Warner Bros. single 7-29815-B, 1982)
13. My Winter Coat (Live on KRCW) (from The Rykodisc/Hannibal/Gramavision Fall ’95 Mixer, Rykodisc VRCD 9509, 1995)