This week Jools, one half of the irrepressible entertainment duo of Linda and Jools Topp, aka the Topp Twins, has died. Together they have made us Kiwis laugh and sing, cry and think, and then laugh some more. For decades. YouTube is awash with their antics.

Born and raised in rural Huntly, they were regular buskers in Auckland when they were in their early 20s. Indeed, due to their popularity, and the size of the crowd that gathered, they were arrested in Queen Street on the charge of causing obstruction. The police were a bit more confrontational back then. The court though found in the duo’s favour, and the resultant publicly greatly benefited their act. I remember them playing in the Auckland University Quad around that time. They were also regulars at country Field Days.

Like for many of us born around 1958, the Topps have lived through the huge socio-political currents, and the reactions to them, that have swept our land. They have been part of protest marches, campaigns, and the like, as we have slowly begun emerging from a ‘difference-is-to-be-distrusted’, ‘unity-means-uniformity’ society into one where feminism is celebrated, being nuclear-free is a given, world sport is inevitably part of world politics, same gender marriages are normal, and Māori language and land recovery are to be respected and encouraged. While undoubtedly there is still a long way to go on those issues and more, the changes for us of the ‘boomer’ generation have been immense.

And the contribution of Linda and Jools Topp has been immense. For by being who they were – pākehā country kids, queer, and proud – and through the mediums of laughter and song, they offered us a way to be together, to laugh together, and at the same time be different.

Iremember through much of the 70s and 80s discussion around social and political issues was very intense. (Religious issues too). You were either right or wrong. You were either on our side or on the outside. There was no room for compromise, for greys. Use the wrong language, or ask the wrong question, you were relegated to the ‘them’ away from the ‘us’. And this was reflected at all levels of society.

One consequence of this was the Springbok tour of 1981. With the politicians and rugby officials who wouldn’t compromise, even if it was detrimental to the social cohesion of the whole nation. With a militarized police force who not only sought to control but meted out punishment to those it deemed to be ringleaders, or just in the way. Afterwards our understanding of unity as a nation would need a whole new re-set.

And through all this time, albeit on the side of change, Linda and Jools Topp made us smile. They helped us be together. Through songs they helped us sing together and dream of a different way of togetherness. Rather than angry words, they joked. Rather than avoiding one another, they’d turn up deep in conservative country to laugh and sing their way into hearts, and through hearts into minds.

Jools and Linda we are immensely grateful. May the korowai of our aroha be around you Linda and your family. Rest in peace Jools. You are unforgettable.

Glynn

(Image: Topp Twins Facebook, 2015)