'Disco Godfather': Remembering the Remarkable Rudy Ray Moore

Pimpin' it Godfather style: Rudy Ray Moore rocks the snakeskin-and-glitter-frames look. Getty Images

 

by John Ridley

Most of the obits for comedian Rudy Ray Moore, who passed away last Sunday at the age of 81, tended to note his extensive list of party albums, his penchant for working bluer than blue. They pointed out that Dolemite, his stage and film character, was an influence on any number of pimp- lovin' playas from Big Daddy Kane to Snoop Dogg.

But for those of you who've never heard of Rudy Ray Moore — and I'm guessing that's a lot of you — I'd like to recall none of that today.

Rather, in eulogizing the man, I'd like to remember his unforgettable 1979 film Disco Godfather.

Disco Godfather is one of the worst movies ever made. It also has a permanent home in my DVD collection. If you appreciate what Rudy was all about, you can't help but appreciate the film.

The allure of Disco Godfather explained, after the jump ...

The plot of the movie is maddeningly simple: Rudy plays Tucker Williams, an ex-cop who opens a disco — don't they all? — and goes after some drug dealers who work his club to bust up their "angel-dust thang."

Featured within that frame: Some sexalicious disco women, some poorly interpreted drug trips, some decidedly metrosexual roller disco and some really, really bad Kung Fu action.

But there is also Rudy at his best — that is, a guy who worked his tail off to entertain. A contemporary of Redd Foxx and Richard Pryor, Rudy would never enjoy the crossover success of those two comedians. But neither would his mediocrity hold him down. And the essence of the man is evident in every aspect of Disco Godfather.

Godfather is hip against all odds. He never gives up. He is the cat all other cats wish to be, and all kittens wish to be with. The Everyman as badass, boogieing lover. And that, all that, was Rudy.

(And though it's delivered with a fist of ham, you can't fault Disco Godfather's anti-drug message. If anything, let's remember that over Rudy's penchant for pimpin'.)

Early in my career, when I was working on Martin Lawrence's TV show, Rudy paid a visit to the set. It was like Tiger Woods showing up at a public clubhouse, or Brett Favre dropping by a high-school practice field. There was that level of excitement. Everyone knew that Rudy was the guy who knew or influenced everyone else.

And you could tell by the way he received the well wishes he was happy with that, with the ability to simply deliver a good time just by being present. He wouldn't have had it any other way.

At some point in Disco Godfather one character says to another: "To be a member of the Disco Squad at the Godfather's, you have to get funky and you have to get down."

The same could be said of anyone who wanted to hang with the real Rudy.