What is your favorite riff based on a song?

I’m not talking about original or reimagined songs by the crew in host segments, but any riff that references a song or musical piece?

I humbly submit the end credits of Werewolf (“Wurwilf?”) as the funniest. It just kept going and got better as it did.

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There are two good ones from Angels Revenge:

Servo quietly hums the theme from “Charlie’s Angels” while the knockoff version from the movie plays on the soundtrack.
and
“Vague-ly Strauss… but not!!”

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One of my favorites is in Sampson vs the Vampire Women. The leading lady plays the Moonlight Sonata and the riff is “Beethoven, from beyond the grave, renounces his great work”

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Something about a mall or atrium, yeah, yeah.

Kurt Cobain Gun GIF by Nirvana

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Another is from the party.

“I’ll have to ask you to turn down the Strauss. There’s been some complaints!”

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From Hired part 2 there’s “I wa-wa-wa-wa wonder!”

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Oh, in Racket Girls, (and in an appropriate voice):

“Strut, pout, put it out, what you want from Grandma!”

They’ve used that line in other episodes but even before knowing the song, that made me laugh.

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A funny musical riff from that episode is when a bass rhythm is played that matches “Happy Together” and they sing along with it.

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[to the tune of Speed Racer] Go El Santo! Go El Santo! Go El Santo GOOOOOOOOOO!

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Any time they pretend a character is singing a totally inappropriate song.

E.g. in Teenagers from Outer Space the old lady nurse gets out of her car and in a warbly voice they sing…

:musical_score: she was a fast machine, she kept her motor clean :musical_note:

There’s several in TFOS.

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“It’s the New Zoo Revue…”

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“Tool Operators… Tooooooooool Operators…”

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That’s a good one! Economical for how much I laughed at that riff!

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I guess the riffs that have to do with background music stick in my mind the most.
In Time of the Apes, where the movie soundtrack sounds like the song “Pop Muzik” and they sing along.

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From Trumpy’s magic scene in Pod People:

Crow: It’s a Peter Gabriel video.
Servo: Yeah somebody hit that kid in the head with a Sledgehammer!

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A super-subtle one:

:notes: (Heeeeeeeeee)
He was a small oily man.
:notes:

as the guy sneaks out of the house early in the morning in Terror from the Year 5000.

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Not sure if these are favorites, but since April is for Alice (Cooper) for me, here’s a few, with a little help from Annotated MST…

:snake: From Starcrash
[Sung] School’s out … for Starcrash …

:snake: From Robot Monster
[Announcer voice] Solar flares of the end of the Earth. Even at the end of the world, love springs eternal.

[Bot] Man needs woman to be his steed. Woman needs man, yeah, now she got the need. –Is that right, Joel? –I think it’s something like that. It’s an old Alice Cooper song.

:snake: Yongary had several music riffs, including one for Alice, but since they haven’t annotated that I don’t know/remember if it was just a name drop or a song sung or referenced.

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From Eegah!:
Eegah sneaks up behind Roxy and the music crescendos as he reaches for her shoulder. Servo belts out, “Born free!”

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I also love when they do that during a musical crescendo in “Quest of the Delta Knights”. Always makes me laugh.

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I could never limit an answer to just ONE riff, but the first one that jumps to mind is the god-tier “Kung Fu Fighting” riff as the hubby listlessly muddles around on the piano in the “Once Upon a Honeymoon” short from Night of the Blood Beast.

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