Celebrities tell best and worst dates

Ebony, Feb, 1998 by Laura B. Randolph

We've all experienced it. That unforgettable date. The one that is so wonderful, so utterly perfect, that just recalling it still makes us woozy. Or the one that is so horrible, so utterly awful, that just remembering it still makes us wince.

In celebration of Valentine's Day, we collected "date data" -- the good, the bad and the ugly -- of a select group of stars. Some of their stories will make you laugh and some will make you cry. All, however, will teach you a few things about the fine art of what our grandmothers call courting. The following are true tales of romantic joy and woe.

GERALD LEVERT

My worst date was my 9th grade prom. I wanted to make this night special so I had my mother chauffeur us in her Rolls-Royce. I bought my date a nice corsage and some little gifts. When we got to the prom, we get to the door and she tells me to hold her sweater, she'll be right back. A half hour, an hour, an hour and a half, she never returns. Finally, one of my boys tells me he has to show me something. Well, my date had re-occupied herself with someone else in the back seat of his car.

My best date is when I proposed to my fiancee. I took her out to dinner, nothing really planned except for the fact that I set it up where they would put the ring in the entree plate. So when the dinner came out and they lifted off the lid, all she saw was the ring 6ox and her ring.

SWV (Sisters with Voices)

COKO: My best date was when I was 16. My boyfriend took me to the Whitestone Movie Theater in the Bronx; he gave me a card, a teddy bear and $10!! My worst date happened when I tried to date a "regular guy," and he kept asking me when I was going to buy him a Jeep!

LELEE: On my best date, we went to a park at two in the morning and it was very romantic. It was a big park, yet I felt comfortable and good. I knew I was in love. On my worst date I went to dinner with someone and thought he was going to pay for dinner, But it turned out he didn't have any money. So, since I was going to have to pay, I went to the bank for some money, but I didn't have any in there. Anyway, I couldn't go back to that restaurant....

TAJ: On my best date, my boyfriend took me out to dinner, and I don't eat meat. Well, we were all dressed up at a posh restaurant, but when the menu come it was awful for me. My boyfriend ordered for me and had them prepare me a special dish -- macaroni and cheese! On my worst date, I waited outside on a really hot day for my date's arrival, but he never showed up. So, instead of a date, I got sunburned!

HERBIE HANCOCK

"This is a story about those three little words -- `I love you,'" Herbie Hancock recalled in the book Bod Dates. "I always thought that saying `I love you' was something important ... I generally never said it at all, thinking that I would only say it to the girl I would marry .. I'm not sure why. And I'm not exactly sure how, but this girl from my childhood and I re-met after I had been in Chicago a couple of weeks. It changed my state of mind completely. I couldn't believe how much I liked her... She was very special. We had a great time and we started seeing each other a lot. One night, after we'd been together for a few weeks, I brought her home. There we were at the front door. We started kissing goodnight, and I just felt so close to her. I really cared for her. As we stood there, holding each other, she whispered in my ear, `Herbie, I love you so much,' and I heard myself answering, `I like you so much, too.' Maybe it was just a habit by then, being too shy I guess, about saying `I love you' to a girl. And I was crazy about this particular person. But something in me still couldn't say it. Things did not pass her by. She pulled away from me, furious, and never spoke to me again. All this took place in the summer of 1961. And I left Chicago soon after that. About six months later, I was in New York again. On New Year's Eve, I found myself riding the subway, going back ... where I was staying. it was just past midnight, and all these people on the train were joking and kissing each other... I sat 6y myself, watching so many happy people and I don't think I ever felt quite as lonely in my life. When I got home, I picked up the phone and called that girl in Chicago. I told her I missed her and felt so terrible about what had happened. I apologized to her, and was so upset, I started crying. She was pretty nice a6out it, but she would never completely forgive me. Eventually, we saw each other again and continued to 6e friends. But that romance died on that summer night when I didn't say `I love you.'"

KIM COLES

My worst date was with this guy I met in college who had raw onions on his burger. We sat in his car talking and I swore I could see a blue funk coming out of his mouth. No kiss good night; I would have fainted! For my other two worst dates, you'll have to get my book, I'm Free, But It'll Cost You: The Single Life According to Kim Coles. On my best date, I went out with a man who devised a way to surprise me with a single different flower with a personalized message attached to each one throughout the evening. We arrived at the restaurant and the maitre d'handed me a rose. When the meal came, the waiter gave me a lily. Dessert was accompanied by an iris. Back at the car, the valet gave me a fragrant gardenia. We drove to Mullholand Drive, cuddled and then he went to his trunk, supposedly to get a jacket, and out came a cute Gerber daisy. When the date was over, he walked me to the door and out of nowhere came a beautiful orchid. I was really impressed because he had spent time orchestrating this intricate plan to delight me. What a sweet man! Too bad it didn't work out.