Lynda Topp
Lynda Topp has delighted audiences from Gore to Nashville, bringing her larger-than-life characters and impressive yodelling to her musical and comedy partnership with twin sister Jools. According to Jools, "the first time Lynda heard a yodel she went into this sort of swoon and became obsessed about learning it".
Born in the Waikato town of Huntly in 1958, Lynda and Jools began their entertainment careers on their parents' dairy farm, singing to the animals and at family events. Their brother Bruce saved up so that he could buy his sisters a guitar, and joined them in a talent quest at high school (the trio came second).
After taking a horse ride to a neighbour's house, Lynda heard Australian yodellers Shirley Thoms and June Holmes on a wind-up gramophone. Lynda described the scene during this extended Funny As interview. "Something happened to me the moment I heard that, and I just thought to myself...'I've got to learn how to do that. That's the most incredible thing I've ever heard in my life.'"
Lynda practiced yodelling for many years before performing publicly. "It was so offbeat people thought it was funny ... but in order to do it, you have to know how to do it. We were never putting anything down, we were sending something up." The twins tracked down many yodelling legends for their documentary In Search of the Lonesome Yodel (2000).
After a short stint in the territorials in the late 1970s, the twins ventured out to busk on the streets with their harmonious political songs. On Fridays they drove into central Auckland: "For an entire year, that's what we did." With Jools on guitar-playing duties, Lynda was freed up to engage the crowd.
In November 1989, accused of blocking the entrance to a mall while performing on Queen Street, they were jailed for a night and won extensive publicity. They wore suits in court, successfully defending a charge of obstruction, with Lynda drawing inspiration from old episodes of Perry Mason. The free publicity gave them a new level of visibility. Says Lynda: "That was the start of our career, basically."
Soon they were travelling the country with backpacks and guitars as the Topp Twins, singing songs of love, politics and Aotearoa everywhere from Dunedin to Sweetwaters.
From an early age, the Topps were upfront about being ‘out' lesbians; many of their songs reflected this and became anthems for the lesbian community. They became darlings of the activist movements, singing at the frequent protest marches and public rallies of the early 80s, from Māori land rights and Reclaim the Night marches, to the anti-apartheid and anti-nuclear movements. One time, tiring of endless speechmaking at an anti-nuclear conference in Wellington, Lynda led the crowd down to the American Embassy to protest.
From early TV specials to winning their own three season series, Lynda directed on many of the Topp Twins' TV shows. One of their stage shows were filmed for a one-off special which won them Listener Television Awards in 1987 for Best Entertainer, Entertainment Programme and Original Music.
Their first ongoing series was The Topp Twins: Do Not Adjust Your Twin-Set, which debuted on TV3 in 1996 and ran for three seasons. The format was an unusual mix of documentary, comedy and musical, with the Topps' fictional characters taking part in real-life situations, such as triathlons, agricultural shows and catwalk shows (like more affable, less-exploitative predecessors to Borat).
The Topp Twins' comedy dynamic often saw Lynda taking on the boisterous characters, while Jools' more gentle personas bounced off her sister's energy. The dynamic can be seen in this Highland Games episode of their TV show: Lynda's half of the classic Kiwi blokes Ken & Ken is the more gregarious of the duo, whilst Lynda's confident Camp Mother has no qualms bossing around Jools' bumbling Camp Leader.
In 2007 Lynda's Ken Moller character went one step further: he fronted his own series, Ken's Hunting and Fishing Show. The format saw Ken visiting some of New Zealand's best hunting and fishing spots, with Lynda directing behind the scenes. Although Lynda has appeared on television without Jools before and since (including an Intrepid Journey to Tajikistan, and this Great New Zealand River Journey up the Waikato), it marked the first ongoing TV series to feature one Topp Twin without the other.
The Twins were a frequent fixture on Kiwi screens throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. Alongside their own show, they also fronted advertising campaigns (Gregg's Coffee, NZ Post), guested on local shows (Cathay Pacific Destination Planet Earth) and sometimes even made the nightly news (Election Night Report).
The Twins took some time away from the spotlight after Jools Topp was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006. The sisters raised awareness for the illness by integrating the experience into their live shows and discussing it openly in the media — such as this Sunday interview.
Documentary Topp Twins - Untouchable Girls hit cinemas in 2009, directed by Leanne Pooley. Part concert film, part historical record and part comedy, the result won wide release in Kiwi cinemas, a run of positive reviews, and a raft of international awards at both queer and straight film festivals. Untouchable Girls' $1.85 million gross catapulted it into the top ten list for New Zealand films on their own soil. It also won theatrical releases in Australia and the United States, where Variety gave the film a rave review.
After an award-winning concert special featuring the Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra in 2010, the Topp Twins returned to television screens for Topp Country. This time they mostly played themselves, on a culinary journey around New Zealand. NZ Herald reviewer Colin Hogg praised the show as "truly wonderful television". In 2017 the twins took out a NZ Television Award for Best Entertainment Presenter for the show's second season — three decades after first winning the same category, for a Topp Twins special.
In 2019 Lynda cameoed in two episodes of Wellington Paranormal— and later this health message — as mother of stalwart cop O'Leary. In the same period the Topp Twins sat down for one of their longest interviews, and were named Dames Companion of the NZ Order of Merit, for services to entertainment.
Lynda and her partner have also run a cafe in Methven, and a bed and breakfast.
In May 2023 NZ On Screen launched this Topp Twins Collection, which alongside clips and interviews, includes written tributes by managers past and present, alongside fans Don McGlashan and Karen O'Leary.
Updated on 31 May 2023
Sources include
Topp Twins.com website. Accessed 31 May 2023
Diva Productions website. Accessed 31 May 2023
Jules and Lynda Topp,The Topp Twins Book (Auckland: Penguin Books 2003)
Frances Grant, 'They're Topps' (Interview) - The NZ Herald, 30 June 2000
Colin Hogg, 'Colin Hogg: Topps shine as rambling foodies' (Review of Topp Country) - The NZ Herald, 13 May 2014
Hannah McKee, 'The Topp Twins take a break from telly' (Interview). Stuff website. Loaded 15 October 2015. Accessed 31 May 2023
The Topp Twins - Untouchable Girls press kit