From the MCRFB music calendar:
Events on this date: MAY 16
1956: Vee-Jay Records announces it has signed the legendary R&B doo-wop group Sonny Til and the Orioles to it’s label.
1960: Billboard magazine report that Detroit’s own Berry Gordy plans to create three record labels, including one called Motown.
1963: At this year’s Grammy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles, Tony Bennett’s “I left My Heart In San Francisco” wins Record Of The Year and Best Male Vocal honors, while Ray Charles win the Best R&B Recording with “I Can’t Stop Loving You.” In a strange twist after all considerations, Bent Fabric wins in the Best Rock And Roll Record with their instrumental hit, “Alley Cat.”
1965: The Rolling Stones limo is mobbed and attacked by female fans on their way back to their motel after a concert in Long Beach, California. Reports indicated that numerous females were seen standing on the roof in numbers causing the roof to cave-in. In desperation, while the band attempted to hold up the roof with their hands, the chauffeur accelerates the limo, leaving fans rolling off, bouncing off unto the road as they sped away.
1969: Jack Casady, bassist for the Jefferson Airplane, is arrested in New Orleans for possession of marijuana and is given a suspended sentence of 2.5 years.
1969: During a Who concert at the Fillmore East in New York, a plainclothes policeman rushes on stage to tell the audience a fire has broken out, but guitarist Pete Townsend, thinking out he must be a rabid fan, kicks him off the stage instead. Literally. Townsend is arrested on stage and is fined $30.00 for his spontaneous derelict reaction.
1970: Randy Bachman leaves the Guess Who to produce an album for Winnipeg band Brave Belt, which he eventually joins. At the suggestion of Neil Young, Bachman recruits fellow Winnipeg bassist and vocalist C. F. Turner, and the band Bachman-Turner Overdrive is born.
1970: Marty Balin of the Jefferson Airplane is arrested in his Bloomington, MN. hotel, after police, responding to a noise complaint call, find the singer smoking marijuana and having sex with teenage girls. His sentence is eventually reduced to a small fine.
1975: Tonight’s showing of NBC-TV’s The Midnight Special is a retro-tribute hosted by Chubby Checker and features musical-performances by Bo Diddley, The Drifters, The Angels, Lesley Gore, The Tymes, and Danny and the Juniors.
1976: Mayor James H. McGee declares today “Ohio Players Day” in the band’s hometown of Dayton, Ohio.
1980: The Carpenters hosts their last television special, Music, Music, Music which airs on ABC-TV.
1980: Brian May of Queen collapses onstage during a concert and is rushed to the hospital, where he is diagnosed (for the second time) with hepatitis.
1980: Elvis Presley’s personal doctor, George Nichopoulous, is brought before the Memphis medical board and is officially charged with 14-counts of abusing his right to prescribe medication. Though he will be acquitted in November, his case will be reopened twelve-years later, when his license will be revoked.
1983: The Temptations and the Four Tops made their appearances on Motown’s 25th anniversary special, and Smokey Robinson and the Miracles are re-united for the show, which aired on NBC-TV. The Supremes (Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, Cindy Birdsong) also reunited for the event, and sang, appropriately, “Someday We’ll Be Together.” Stevie Wonder also performed, singing “You Are The Sunshine Of My Life.”
1985: Manager Ken Kragen — who developed the idea for the We Are The World Recording project to raise money for Africa Hunger Relief — was handed a check for $6.5 million dollars in royalties from Columbia Records President Al Teller. The song’s merchandising rights and album would go on to raise in excess of $50 million.
1986: Johnny Paycheck is convicted of shooting a man when a misunderstanding occurring inside a bar in Hillsboro, OH. The fan was only grazed by the bullet, and Paycheck is pardoned after serving a 22-month prison term.
1987: David Crosby marries his long-time Jan Dance in Los Angeles, with bandmate Stephen Stills giving away the bride and Graham Nash renewing his vows with wife Susan.
1989: Janet Jackson is harassed by fans when she took a VIP tour of Universal Studios in Florida. Adding insult to injury, the fans believed they were hounding her brother Michael, while he was with the tour, was not recognized wearing a disguise.
1998: Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones reaches for several of his books of artistic nudes in his personal library at his home in Connecticut, falls from a ladder, breaks a few ribs, while forcing to band to cancel their upcoming scheduled tour.
2003: While undergoing dialysis, Barry White suffers a stroke, though his sister publicly claims he will perform again, it proves to be the end of White’s public life.
Deaths: Ernie Freeman, (1981); Sammy Davis, Jr., (1990); Marv Johnson; (1993).
Releases: Beach Boys: Pet Sounds; LP.
Recordings: Beatles: “Taxman,” “For No One.” Frank Sinatra: “Summer Wind.” Tony Joe White: “Polk Salad Annie.”
Charts: Bill Haley and His Comets: “Crazy, Man, Crazy” enters the charts, 1953; Mary Wells: “My Guy” hits No. 1. 1964; Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young’s LP, Deja Vu, hit No. 1 on the charts.
And that’s just a few of the events which took place in pop music history, on this day…. 
