Where Do I Come From

The Roches hooked me from the moment I saw them live in Delft, way back, at the time of their self-titled first album, when the sweetly belted out the first chords of Quitting Time. It was the songs of Maggie that formed the backbone of their repertoire back then. Imaginative music that transcended the term 'folk' and lyrics that showed an feeling of feminine independence, with humour and self-irony. They made two hands full of albums that never quite reached the same level of their debut, but, boy, not reaching that level could still mean stirling records. Nurds, Keep on doing, Speak, Can we go home now, We Three Kings - I love them to bits. For me Maggie's songs were always the highlights, and again, that does not mean that Terre's and Suzzy's songs were not welcome, in fact were necessary complements. To see all of Maggie's songs assembled on a double CD is a great pleasure. Too bad she passed away and that her output became less and less in numbers as time went by. Not bad, if in a lifetime one has created such a great collection of songs. Long live her music.On a personal note, I was a lonely civil-engineering student in the late seventies. Maggie is the only person that wrote a song about such individual - very perceptive and very humane: West-Virginia, off the great pre-Roches Seductive Reasoning. Thank you for that!The bonus tracks are nice to have: the Xmas song that missed We Three Kings, a few demos, and what seems to be her Swansong - Where do I come from? Very Apt.A necessary set for all music lovers, lyrics lovers, women, people...

This is a new trip down memory lane for all us Roche’s fans going back to the beginning and highlighting and showcasing the songwriting and huge singing talents of the beautiful Maggie Roche who sadly died in 2017 - most of these songs are among my favourites so thank you to Suzzy for putting together such a lovely and fitting tribute to your big sister - I am sure she is smiling at having her own solo album after all these years- highly recommend this to all Roche’s fans and all genuine music lovers out there 👍👍👍👍👍

What a beautiful retrospective of Maggie's work. Beautiful songs, beautifully realised. Suzzy has chosen well. Enjoy.

For years Maggie Roche seemed to be the one who kept the Roches together, but she did it quietly. So quietly sometimes that we didn't realise quite how much she contributed to the singing trio. Sister Suzzy has put together this wonderful 2 CD set of songs by Maggie. A great selection and a taster for all the CDs, some of which are still available.