We wrote a couple of days back about the new posthumous Joey Ramone album, and while we’re not entirely convinced by the record and the philosophy that underlies it, it is nice to see the Ramones continuing to get some recognition, albeit far more belatedly than they should have done. The most famous way in which the band’s legacy has been commemorated has been the decision to rename part of 2nd Street in Manhattan “Joey Ramone Way,” a street sign that immediately made its way to the top of hoarders’ lists. It’s certainly not the only street around the world named after a famous musician, mind — check out 10 of them after the jump.
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ACDC Lane, Melbourne, Australia
Amusingly, it’s ACDC Lane (not AC/DC Lane) because apparently somewhere in an obscure book of statute, there’s some sort of council edict against using symbols in street titles. Yes, some sort of jobsworth really saw fit to pen a law covering such eventualities. Sigh. (Also, speaking of Melbourne: if you’re a fan of The Birthday Party, we recommend clicking here and adding your name to a petition to rename a street after the band’s late and great guitar genius Rowland S. Howard.)
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Calle de AC/DC, Madrid, Spain
Happily, no such silliness prevails in Madrid, where Calle de AC/DC — named in 2000 at a ceremony attended by the Young brothers — even gets a lightning bolt. Apparently the first street sign was gone within two hours of being erected, and presumably now occupies pride of place in some proud Madrileño’s living room.
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Flaming Lips Alley, Oklahoma City, OK
These days they have a pretty good basketball team, but for a long time, the Flaming Lips were the best-known people to come out of Oklahoma City, and their hometown duly honored them by renaming this street in the center of the city’s entertainment district.
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Frank Zappa Straße, Berlin, Germany
This street is home to a giant studio complex that provides rehearsal spaces for up to 160 bands. Formerly called simple Straße 13, it was renamed in 2007 at the urging of a collection of bands based in said complex.
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Joey Ramone Way, New York, NY
For all that we are suspicious of rock ‘n’ roll nostalgia, we do agree that it was a rather lovely gesture to rename the part of 2nd Street near the former CBGB in honor of the Ramones’ late singer. The sign is six meters above street level because it gets stolen so often.
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Run-DMC JMJ Way, Queens, NY
The late and lamented Jason Mizell — aka Jam Master Jay — was commemorated a couple of years back with the rechristening of the corner of 205th Street and Hollis Avenue. It was just around the corner from the burger joint that doubled as the Hollis Hip Hop Museum, until the place sadly got closed for not paying back taxes.
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Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter Road, Kwara State, Nigeria
We wouldn’t be surprised if Jay-Z gets a similar honor in the Marcy Projects one day, but for now, he’ll have to be happy with this street in the exotic surrounds of Nigeria. The road was named in honor of Jay-Z’s efforts to raise funds to relieve Africa’s water crisis — it’s hard to find information on exactly where it is, but it’s somewhere in Kwara State (from where TV on the Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe hails, incidentally.) Would anyone care to enlighten us?
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Various Motown-influenced streets, Detroit, MI
It’s perhaps a little disappointing that the decision to name a bunch of streets after Motown luminaries came at the behest of a private developer rather than city authorities, but still, the fact remains that you can go to Detroit and visit streets named after The Four Tops, The Temptations, The Miracles, The Vandellas, and plenty more. Which is pretty great.
Calle de Joe Strummer, Granada, Spain
We can’t find a photo of this one, perhaps because we’re not entirely sure that the street in question has actually been renamed yet, but as per this report from earlier this year, the late Clash frontman is being honored with a street in the lovely Andalucían city of Granada (which also happens to be one of your author’s favorite places in the world).
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Sleater-Kinney Rd, Olympia, WA
OK, we’re cheating a little here, because the band were named after the road, not the other way around. But it’s still pretty great to see this sign as you drive into Olympia.