When all hell breaks loose: Carmina Burana - O Fortuna
When things get dreadful and despairing and sad, Lux Aeterna.
And when things get insane and the Nazgul are about to rip your guts out, Lux Aeterna.
HOLY CRAP I’ve always wondered where that theme came from. Thank you!!!
This might be of interest to some of you
79 Instrumental songs everyone knows, but no one knows the name of (TV Show & Advertising Music)
It has many of the “riffs” posted here. And it has sequel.
I wonder how common vacuum cleaners were in 1931? I wonder if most people would get the joke?
That’s it, all right. 
Our cat Archie, who controlled the neighborhood in the mid to late 60s, was so afraid of the vacuum cleaner that if we brought a part of the tubing near him he would back up and swat at it.
Need to steal a dusky senorita from some bandidos or get beaten up by some muleteers?
Malaguena is the tune for you!
I would have gone with El Jarabe Tapatio for all things south of the border.
Or Cielito Lindo.
Oh yeah, and when they don’t do generic steel guitar music to say, “Hawaii”, they play the Hawaiian War Chant.
This is a bit off-topic (certainly not a “riff” as such) but something about HWC made me think of one of the most spine-tingling pieces of music I have ever heard. From the looks of the counts on the page – 384 views in a year’s time – few others feel that way, but on the outside chance others here may share my tastes for this sort of thing, I suggest you spend the 7 minutes to get involved in Grand Canyon Sunrise.
Don’t start it unless you have a few minutes to get into it. Wait for the organ to kick in – at around 2:11.
For these sort of breaks the website “Who Sampled” is amazing. For example, for the Amen Break and Funky Drummer:
http://www.whosampled.com/The-Winstons/Amen,-Brother/
http://www.whosampled.com/James-Brown/Funky-Drummer/
Although I am sorry to say that Fool’s Gold doesn’t use the Funky Drummer break, instead it is the also extremely popular (and similar) Hot Pants: