Nutbush

[waitingman]

It may be a little old town in Tennessee, but Australians have adopted it - dancing to this song has become a rite of passage at any birthday, wedding, school dance... & now our not-so-secret has been discovered by Americans

Like most Australians, I had no idea this wasn't the actual dance everybody does when that riff starts up, but apparently, we are indeed alone in this. It's been a thing since at least the early 80s - when I first started going to those sorts of parties & even I was mystified by how everyone seemed to know the steps to it when all I knew was how to play the riff... Even then I was a player, not a dancer

I wonder if Tina is aware of the phenomenon... & I wish I could find some footage of her performing the song in Australia

'Til then, as Sean Barry Parsons says - "Fuck Cotton-Eye Joe... we gotta Nutbush!!"

Watch on YouTube

Comments

[basefinder]

I don't think I have ever heard that song before! Nor could I jump in to that dance routine!

Most of the moves look like common elements of line dancing, which takes place in country bars or dance halls, therefore my only perspective is seeing it occasionally on TV.

I guess the equivalent of this, for me, is the Chicken Dance. When did that become a widespread thing, was I absent from class that day, and why didn't I receive the memo?

[paserbyp]

Very good for exercise and loosing weight!

[waitingman]

I'm surprised you never heard the song before!! Other than 'River Deep, Mountain High', it was Ike & Tina's biggest hit... but again, that may just be an Australian thing - it's still played on radio here quite often

I think, despite the slightly ridiculous video I've posted, it's still a bit cooler than the Chicken Dance... or the Macarena, Lambada, Ketchup Song Dance, the Agadoo... & is probably up there with the Goodies 'Disco Heave' - unfortunately I can't find any footage from their Disco episode

[anais_pf]

Performance of 'Nutbush City Limits' on the Australian TV program 'Countdown':

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eznuKzgt5XU

[waitingman]

That takes me back to my childhood - Countdown was essential viewing as a kid/teenager on weekend nights. Despite the awful lip-syncing & worse dancing, there were some great interviews & videos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMtH58M3HXA This footage of Iggy Pop performing 'I'm Bored', probably traumatising an unsuspecting audience, then wreaking havoc during an album review slot with the flustered host, was the kind of thing you watched for...

I'm just disappointed the Tina video doesn't have the 'classic' Australian choreography...

[anais_pf]

Wow, that is great!

I think maybe the Nutbush dance came after this performance by Tina? Just a guess.

[waitingman]

Most likely... it's one of the strange things about Australia. We absorb so much from the rest of the world, thanks not only to a policy of multiculturalism, but also to a bit of cultural insecurity - we're such a young country that we end up imitating our elders. The flip side to that is - when we do something that becomes ingrained, like the Nutbush dance, our natural assumption is that everybody does that... don't they?

And what do you mean, the rest of the world doesn't understand, or even like, Vegemite??!!??