In 1973 Queen Elizabeth ll opened the Sydney Opera House, voting age was lowered from 21 to 18 and you could spend new $50 notes at Australia’s first legal casino in Hobart.

All significant events but something the majority of Australians can really relate to, even today, was the release of the legendary track ‘Nutbush City Limits’ in 1973.

With the anniversary of legendary singer Tina Turner’s death on Friday 24 May, researchers at the University of South Australia and Edith Cowan University have explored the elusive origins of the iconic line dance the Nutbush.

Accepted as part of our Aussie culture the dance has crossed generations with adults and children still breaking into dance at the sound of the Nutbush, from weddings, to school halls, parties and nightclubs, the song ignites a fire in the feet of dancers all over the country.

The song has become such an Australian institution that there have been many attempts to create a world record for the number of people dancing it at one time, with the current record standing at 6594 dancers at the 2023 Mundi Mundi Bash in remote NSW.

The Nutbush World Record attempts at the Mundi Mundi Bash near Broken Hill and sister event the Birdsville Big Red Bash have raised more than $500,000 for the Royal Flying Doctors Service (RFDS) since 2016 and organisers can’t wait to see how many enthusiastic dancers they can muster up this year.

“Between the Mundi Mundi Bash and the Big Red Bash, we’ve been smashing Nutbush world records for nearly a decade now," said Festival owner and Managing Director of the Outback Music Festival Group Greg Donovan. 

"Last year after Tina’s passing was particularly big, everyone rallied to pay tribute to her, and we had a lot of our Nutbushers dressed up as Tina – in her famous Mad Max outfit. 

"Her legacy lives on through the uniquely Aussie tradition of the Nutbush and we’ve been told that Tina herself was aware of our annual Nutbush world record attempts in Outback Australia.

"We’re hoping the Big Red Bash might be able to break the current Mundi Mundi Bash record in July, and that the Mundi Mundi Bash will claim it back again in August as our event numbers have grown from just over 12,000 to close to 14,000 heading to the Mundi Mundi Plains.”

Not just a little line dance. Matt Williams' photo gives an idea of the numbers involved in the Mundi Mundi 2023 nutbush record.

According to research by University of SA’s Professor Jon Stratton and Edith Cowan’s Professor Panizza Allmark, the history of the dance appears to have originated in the halls of the NSW education department in 1975.

“We believe the Nutbush was developed and distributed to teacher training institutions to be used as a teaching aid in creative arts classes and physical education,” says Prof Stratton, a cultural studies scholar.

“Line dances work very well in classrooms because the teacher can stand at the front and give instructions to the lines."

Who doesn't know The Nutbush? Mundi Mundi Bash dancers 2023. IMAGE: Matt Williams

The idea must have been to provide students with an enjoyable way of exercising and learning coordination.

“Whoever designed the Nutbush succeeded beyond any success they could have hoped for. What makes it special is that it’s moved out of schools to become the dance of choice at many Australian social events.”

Ike and Tina Turner. IMAGE: New York Post

While it has been claimed to have been born out of an Australian incorrectly attempting to remember the American Line dance, the Madison, and ending up with a version that became the Nutbush, Tina Turner has never performed the dance and there appears to be no comment from her about its existence.

The dance which involves a set of varying leg movements, is still as relevant today as it was in earlier years and there wouldn’t be many kids or adults who wouldn’t know it or could do it on demand.

The song ‘Nutbush City Limits’ was released in July 1973, it peaked in the US charts at number 87 by December of that same year.

The song, based on Tina Turner’s hometown of Nutbush in Tennessee in USA, did not hit the charts in Australia until early 1975, where it climbed to number 27 on the Australian Top 40 in March of that year and stayed in the top 100 for 15 weeks.

Professor John Stratton University of South Australia IMAGE: LinkedIn

In NSW the single climbed to number 8 on the charts in 1975, also reaching top ten status in Victoria and Queensland.

Professor Stratton suspects its re-emergence in Australian music charts was not only because the song was a “dance floor filler” but also because of the Nutbush’s popularity in Australian classrooms during that time.

“The last time ‘Nutbush City Limits’ appeared in the Australian charts was when Tina Turner died at the age of 83 on 24 May 2023.”

“The Nutbush is likely to remain an experience that Australians resonate with for some time,’’ he added.

Professor Panizza Allmark Edith Cowan University

Professor Panizza Allmark recalls memories of dancing to the Nutbush herself in primary school in Perth around 1980 when physical education (PE) and dance classes would prepare students for the much-anticipated school discos.

“Unlike formal dancing where you needed a partner, the Nutbush didn’t involve holding hands or touching anyone of the opposite sex,” she says.

“In primary school, when learning folk dancing, there was great awkwardness in having to dance with a partner of the opposite sex but with the Nutbush, you didn’t need ‘to take a partner by the hand’. You could enjoy the dance moves and be part of a communal experience without all the sweaty handholding.”