Yesterday, Flea of Red Hot Chili Peppers turned 63. Happy birthday to the hop-skippedy-jumpingest bassist.

For one of the 28 songs on 2006’s Stadium Arcadium, Flea adapted the bassline from 1985’s ‘American Ghost Dance’. A new song, about humping and bumping rather than the ills inflicted on the Native American, was born. ‘Hump de Bump’ might reference an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, according to one keen Genius annotator. It might also not. Whatever the lyrics relate to, the words certainly flow: you don’t need to speak French to feel the rhythm of “Workin’ the beat as we speak / Workin’ the belle du monde”.

Last month, Flea’s non-profit music school, Silverlake Conservatory of Music – or more specifically Silverlake Conservatory of Music All-Stars – released a 4-track EP in tribute to the Peppers. The Silverlake Youth Chorale’s vocals flow similarly to Anthony Kiedis’s on ‘Hump de Bump’. Each of the four covers are faithful to the originals, but there are impactful tweaks to the arrangements: choirs favoured over lead vocals, guitar solos’ melodies altered, an interlude becoming an introduction (“Gon’ getcha, gon’ shake ya!”).

It’s a light, happy song, but there’s something about the choir that makes the bridge melody (“Any of a hundred styles”) seem foreboding. Flea played trumpet on several Stadium songs, and here the playing sticks quite close to the original, but there’s some nice freer soloing in the outro. Flea’s bassline is also reenacted faithfully; importantly, the One is hit every bar apart from in the enjoyable percussion-only section.

In 2017, Flea spoke about how his music school was even more important than in 2001 when it started. With cuts to arts education, kids in and around Los Angeles no longer have the access to instruments that he had growing up. In his moving memoir, Acid for the Children, Flea wrote about being inspired to set up the school after reading Horace Tapscott’s own memoir. He writes with a similar passion as when he recalls seeing his stepfather and his friends play bebop as a kid. The profound experience set Flea up for a life dedicated to music.

To close this funky Friday, let’s revisit one of the few times the Peppers played ‘Hump de Bump’ live. Flea’s orange beanie doesn’t last long as the mighty thumps from his bass and Chad Smith’s kick drum inspire too much headbopping. The percussion-only section is replaced with a Smith-led breakdown with all four Peppers contributing; Flea leans heavily into the wah and John Frusciante plays percussive, Jimmy Nolen inspired muted chords. Happy bopping in your 64th year, Flea.