Koko the gorilla has been kicking around forever. She’s been in the public conscience for so long that they made jokes about her on Seinfeld. She got a kitten in the ‘80s. Koko is 45 now, but the gorilla who gained fame for her acumen with American Sign Language is still picking up new skills. Recently, the Red Hot Chili Peppers posted a video on YouTube of Flea and Koko hanging out, with Koko playing Flea’s bass guitar.
It’s a pretty simple video. It’s just Flea chilling while, in Flea’s words in the description of the video on YouTube, “My sweet and true friend Koko rocks a flea bass like it ain’t nuthin.” Koko is quite fascinated with the bass, and understands enough to try and strum it. She also fiddles with the knobs. Anybody who has ever played a guitar can relate to tweaking the knobs in a desperate attempt to try and make it sound better. Eventually, she does get it to make a couple of noises that sound like a person playing the bass. For a gorilla, that’s pretty impressive.
While it’s hard to truly grasp how much Koko may or may not be enjoying noodling around on the bass, Flea definitely is enjoying the experience. It’s very rare to get a chance to see a gorilla in concert, so you can understand his enthusiasm. Now, all we need is a gorilla who can play the drums, and a gorilla who knows a few chords, and we can finally bring a gorilla rock band into the world.
