I Won a Date (to my Senior Prom) with Howard Stern

Several years ago, there was just one boy that I wanted to ask me to my high school senior prom, but of course he didn't ask.  Another boy did, but by the time he asked me, I had resigned myself to spinsterhood and turned him down.  I soon regretted declining his offer but didn’t have the chutzpah to tell him I changed my mind.  (Moot point anyway;  he had already found a different girl.)  So now I was doomed to hanging out at home, dateless on prom night with my pseudo "friends" Ben & Jerry-- hopeless.

But then, opportunity knocked.  I might have a chance to go to my prom after all!  Because Howard Stern just announced the WNBC Prom Date Contest: Call the station and convince Howard Stern to take you to your senior prom.  Hey, I could do that! 

I immediately picked up my phone and dialed WNBC.  Darn!  The line was busy.  I guess I wasn't the only girl without a date.

 I continued to dial round and round (rotary phone!) until I got through. I talked to a screener first who demanded to know why I wanted Howard to take me to the prom. Really??  “I need a date."

Bingo! I was put through to the celebrity who would later be known as the self-proclaimed King of All Media-- and told him my pitiful tale. Howard and Robin were moved. 

We talked for a while on air-- and off air, I gave Howard my phone number.  He promised to call me the next day.   I was indeed a “contender”.

I rushed home from school the next day and waited for Howard's call.  I heard him mention on the air that he lost my number.  He said, over the airwaves, to his million plus listeners, that he hoped that I, Judy Rose, would call the station.  So again I dialed WNBC, but of course-- all I got was a busy signal.  I kept trying. Incessantly.  My window of date-opportunity was starting to close:  Howard's shift was almost over. 

But I wouldn't give up.  I dialed and dialed and dialed and dialed until busy turned into a ring. "

I spoke to the mean screener again, who eventually transferred me to the studio. A girl from Long Island was on Howard's other line, and Howard was facing a dilemma. Which one of us would he take? Finally, after much deliberation and discussion with each of us, and with some guidance from Robin, Earthdog Fred and Jackie Martling, he chose: “I’m going to take the girl from Westchester.” (That would be me.) I was ecstatic. I thanked him. He confirmed his decision: “That girl from Long Island-- we know she’ll probably be able to get a date. But you-- you seem like you really need a date.” “I REALLY want to go to my prom”, I told him. So he said, “OK. We’re going to take you.  You sound pathetic and we'll cheer you up."

We talked for a while off the air.  He got my number again, and promised not to lose it this time.

For the next several weeks Howard called me after school, announcing me each time to his listeners as “Judy Rose- my lovely date for the Lakeland High School Senior Prom”. We began to solidify details for prom night and get to know each other. Keep in mind, he was an adult  (29) and I was a high school senior. He asked me my hobbies and when I mentioned tennis, he asked if I was a lesbian, if I had AIDS or any other communicable diseases, and if I would shave my legs for the prom. He asked what kind of corsage I wanted. I told him I wanted a wrist corsage…. “my mother told me to tell you to get me a wrist corsage”.  He responded, “Yeah, your mother doesn’t want me pinning anything on your chest.”

He had seen my picture in the local paper, and asked how it felt to be a mini celebrity in my school's town of Shrub Oak. We spoke about how half of the kids at school including the prom committee, staff, faculty and administrators were not simply concerned about disruptions Howard might cause at the prom-- they didn't want him there at all!  The Assistant Principal, Mr. Beeber, ("Do the kids call him Mr. Beaver?  Now they will!") even called my mother at her job to verify her awareness / approval of my prom plan-- and in particular,  of my anomalistic date. After all, what kind of mother would allow her 18 year old daughter to do this? The kind, Mr. Beeber discovered, who was a closet Howard listener and who encouraged me to enter the contest in the first place.  And of course the other half of the school was cheering me on-- thrilled about all of the publicity and fame for our school.

I felt awkward in the center of this controversy. I asked Howard if he thought I should cancel, and he convinced me to stand my ground assuring me that he and his “people” were taking care of the situation with the school admin and I shouldn't worry.

On most days after school, Howard and Robin called me at home specifically to broadcast our conversations on the air.  On some days, though, they called just to see how I was doing and to tell me they wouldn’t have time to talk to me on air.  #Thoughtful. #Considerate.  And when I went to visit my dad in Washington DC over Memorial Day weekend, Howard and Robin called me upon my return-- off air-- to ask if I had a nice trip.  #Sweet.

On the evening of the prom, before he signed off his show in NYC to pick me up from my house in northern Westchester (and yes, WNBC let him off an hour early since his normal shift was 4-8pm), Howard asked if I had taken a shower or bath--and which did I prefer.  I told him it was none of his business, and Robin he decided I was a “feisty little one”.  He had a proclaimed "fetish" for open-toed sandals, so when he asked what kind of shoes I was wearing, I answered: "The open-toed sandals that you like.” You could hear the applause in the studio. He also asked if I had dates for his entourage—his producer, Al Rosenberg; Fred Norris (Earthdog Fred), Robin Quivers, Bobby the Engineer, and his assistant Chris Mattioli. I told him I was sorry-- I couldn't get dates for any of them-- especially for Robin, because if I knew any available guys, I would have gone with them.  Robin actually chimed in for the second part of that response, knowing exactly what I was going to say. :)

The show ended, and about an hour and a half later, after calling from a phonebooth somewhere along the way to apologize for getting lost and delayed, Howard Stern and his posse drove up my driveway in a stretch limousine. Kids from my neighborhood and neighborhoods I didn't even know existed flooded my yard. The doorbell rang, and in walked Howard Stern, Robin Quivers, Fred Norris, Bobby the Engineer, Al Rosenberg, and Chris Mattioli. And the limo driver, I believe.

Instantly, Howard whipped out his WNBC microphone, stuck it in front of my face and started recording.  I was so seriously tongue-tied.  We exchanged gifts: My mother and I gave him a sterling silver Tiffany  & Co. teething spoon engraved with the initials of his newborn daughter, Emily; and he gave me a beautiful orchid wrist corsage. He talked with my mother for a bit, and promised to have me home at a decent hour.

On the 40+ minute drive to the prom, Howard continued to get to know me. He asked about my sign, what I’d be doing after high school, where I was going to college, my major, etc…  the questions came fast, and I was pretty nervous.  Still, I remember having fun, feeling special, and just trying to take it all in.    I told him how excited I was to work at camp in two weeks and attend  NYU in the fall.

We arrived to the prom about an hour and a half late, but I didn't care. We did the typical prom stuff-- danced, posed for our pictures, and ate. Above and beyond that, Howard signed WNBC posters, LHS yearbooks, prom napkins and prom invitations.  He visited everyone's table, posed for lots of photos with other kids, talked to the media, danced with other girls and interviewed Mr. Beeber. ("Do you spank the kids?"  😂)  But he kept reminding me that I was the “Belle of the Ball”. 

 

We left way before it was over, but we ended up staying in the parking lot later than everyone else because the limo driver was nowhere to be found. When Limo Driver showed up, we piled into the car and headed back to my house. I'm pretty sure we all fell asleep during the ride (except for Limo Driver, of course).

 After we pulled into my driveway and I said my goodbyes to Robin and Fred and Bobby and Al and Chris and Limo Driver, Howard walked me to my front door. I didn't have my key so we rang the doorbell.  My mother answered,  Howard and I said goodbye and I said thank you.  He gave me a hug, gave my mom the thumbs up sign and said about me, “I’m gonna see her at the top”.  I’ll never forget that.  

The following Monday, Howard played the prom tapes on the air.  Fans heard it all-- from the moment he and his entourage left the station in the city and got in the limo,  to my interviews in my house and in the limo, to the entire prom,-- including interviews with the Assistant Principal and other students--to the missing limo driver conversation.  Also on that June 27th show,  Howard played the game, “Guess the band”: For example, he played the Duran Duran original of “Hungry Like the Wolf” and  then he played the prom band (The Ambassadors) version.  Listeners called the studio line to guess which was the prom band and which was the the real band. Finally, toward the end of his shift, he called me at home one more time. We talked on air, reminiscing about our date to the prom just 3 nights earlier.  Off-air he wished me all the luck in the world, said to keep in touch, and thanked me. As he was finishing the show, he told Roz Frank (of N Copter fame), “Nice girl”, and she gently commented, “Yeah, that’s what you said.”
I was so touched.

I wish I hadn't accidentally thrown away the cassette tape I made of my on-air times.  I remember that mistake vividly, too, and I'm still haunted by my carelessness.    If you know how to access ancient Howard Stern episodes from 1983, please contact me. I'd gladly negotiate paying you for them.

That summer I worked at a sleep-away camp in Pennsylvania and was able to tune into WNBC on my radio. One day I heard The Ambassadors (the prom band!) on Howard's show-- playing Dial-a-Date.

During my junior year at New York University, a Teaching Assistant in one of my production classes who worked with Howard at his "new" station, K-Rock (WXRK), asked me if I’d be a guest on Howard's show. The producers, Howard and Robin wanted my help in the studio screening calls from girls who were participating in the latest "Prom Date" Contest. 

Needless to say, I also had to convince the parents that Howard is harmless.  Which of course he is!

So I joined Howard and Robin, and my experience this time was much different.  I honestly can't remember if we chose a winner, but I do remember thinking that it was obvious that my Cinderella story was a flash of time, and I couldn't recapture it. No longer was I that  young, innocent high school kid. I was almost 22 years old and a soon-to-be NYU grad who developed a slightly cynical, sarcastic and snobbish side. Though I outgrew that phase pretty quickly, at that moment in the studio I was an easy target for Insult Dodgeball.

If you flip through Robin’s first book, there’s a picture of Howard and Robin with the Assistant Principal of Lakeland High School. The caption underneath reads something like, “In 1983 we escorted a girl to her senior prom in Westchester County…” That girl would be me.

As you probably can guess, my life hasn’t been quite as exciting as Howard’s. Despite his "thumbs up" gesture all those years ago, I'm still climbing my way to the middle.

When people learn that I went to my senior prom with Howard Stern, they often ask why I never went on "America's Got Talent" (where Howard was a judge).

I respond by gently and kindly reminding them that winning a date to my prom isn't a talent, and writing this story is far from an AGT act.   People agree.

My real "talent" exists if I've made you smile. I'm still smiling: Because Howard Stern pulled me out of my adolescent torpor and doldrums and gave me a story to tell that will live on for a long, long time.