A tribute to the Topp Twins on the passing of Dame Jools

Dame Lynda Topp, John Came, Heather Came and Dame Jools Topp.       Photo credit: Gil Hanley

For those of you that don’t know I am working on my as of yet untitled memoir. Rather than an epic narrative with me as the shero I have crafted stories about moments and adventures about my life linked through themes. One of my stories was about the Topp Twins. On the passing of Dame Jools here is my tribute to my sheroes. My love to the family, her village and all whose lives they continue to touch.

I’m too young to have seen the Topp Twins busk on Queen Street, but I think I would have enjoyed seeing that. As a young feminist in the 1980s and 1990s I got to see them perform in halls at women-only venues. The crowds would go wild when they sang “Untouchable girls”.  If they played in my town, I would rustle up a crew and cheer them on. I remember getting their autograph for a baby dyke who was too chicken to do it herself. My small talk in that moment of meeting them was somewhat limited. 

They were the only out and proud lesbians I knew for the longest time. I loved that they were activist, a bit country. I loved they wrote a song about calf club day and as a rural kid I knew what that was all about. I never really understood the yodelling, but it was deeply impressive – no-one else in my circle was doing that. Split Enz my previous favourites couldn’t do that. 

I watched the TV programmes and the emergence of their comic personas and was bemused at how they were beloved. I remember that they had explicitly promised “they would never ever plug into the mains”. One night I watched them play in a packed Wellington town hall and wondered if they had broken their promise. I always smile when I glimpse their merchandise - the cookbooks, DVDs, albums - at the opportunity shop.

I love that there are people in the world that know where New Zealand is because of the lesbian twin yodellers. I loved the feature film and saw it on the big screen with friends. I didn’t notice but it seemed not everyone else was singing along with them and knew all the words. Perhaps I have become a superfan.

One of my favourite gigs was when you played at Matakana and me and my big brother went and we had a sober driver (thanks Edwina) so we leaned into irresponsible drinking. We decided to get autographs but had no paper, so found a sharpie and got them to sign my breasts (see picture) – I was wearing a low-cut summer maxi dress.  They were very obliging. I saw famous feminist photographer Gil Hanly and decided to be cheeky and asked her to take a photo. It was the time before cell phones, and she did and sent it to us. An iconic shot of Jules, Lynda, John and I which is bound to end up in the slide show at my funeral.

We went to the 60^th birthday gig with lesbian friends. But to be honest it was a public gig and we paid to attend. It felt more intimate than that sounds we were three rows back in the middle. We were seated next to the queen of the superfans, and the room was wall to wall lesbian chic. It was after the first cancer diagnosis and before the second. It felt like we were witnessing history. The standing ovation was an appropriate response to the Toppies being on fire. The following Monday we heard they had been made Dames. In that moment I was proud of our country for celebrating those good women.

I love that Jacinda Ardern brought their old touring caravan. I hate that they are sick, that they lost their mum last year. But I hope that you both are enjoying this chapter of your life, with your dogs, horses and village. Doing politics and gigs when you fancy and plugging into the mains when and if it suits you. Wishing you both beauty, justice and peace.