"Joey Ramone Place" Street Sign Most Loved by NYC Thieves

Fun dinner party fact from today's NY Post: "Joey Ramone Place" street sign in NYC is the street sign most often stolen.

Nine years after his death, punk legend Joey Ramone has gone to an even higher place.

The ceremonial street sign placed in his honor at the corner of Bowery and East Second Street had to be raised a full eight feet because thieving fans kept snatching it, city officials told The Post.

"Joey Ramone Place" is perhaps the most stolen of the 250,900 street signs in New York, according to the Department of Transportation, which recently asked contractors to install the sign for the fourth time since 2003.

He would have appreciated the distinction, said the group's longtime drummer, Marky Ramone, sole survivor of the Ramones' longest-running lineup.

But maybe they should find a better way to attach it," he said. "Now you have to be an NBA player to see it."

Although most street signs are about 12 to 14 feet off the ground, Joey Ramone Place was raised to 20 feet, an oddity first noted on the blog EV Grieve.

Though he wasn't aware so many thieves had given the sign the "Hey Ho," Marky said he can't think of a better tribute. "Every time I turn down Second Street, I look up and say, 'Hey Joey, you belong up there,' " he said.

The Bowery has become much more sedate since the death of the original three Ramones. And with CBGB -- the Bowery venue where the Ramones, and punk, started -- closed for good, the sign has become a crucial reminder of the corner's role in music history, Marky said. "It's a really nice tribute to a frontman who started the genre we call punk rock," he added.

The other highly sought after street sign souvenirs are a little less edgy: Broadway, Wall Street, and Love Lane, DOT spokesman Seth Solomonow said. (Source)

The Airborne Toxic Event signs with Majordomo Records

In the midst of my interview with The Airborne Toxic Event comes confirmation of the "label-whose-name-shall-not-be-spoken" (heh). Full-length record slated for July release.

The Airborne Toxic Event Signs with Majordomo Records

The Airborne Toxic Event, whose danceable, literate rock-noir captured the fancy of L.A. audiences (and radio programmers) over the last year, has signed with Majordomo Records, the indie imprint affiliated with the burgeoning reissue/DVD label Shout! Factory.

The Los Feliz-based quintet, which will release its debut album, “The Airborne Toxic Event,” on July 15, becomes Majordomo’s second signing. The label debuted in August when it released Earlimart’s fourth album, “Mentor Tormentor”; on July 1, the label will release Earlimart’s follow-up, “Hymn and Her.” Although Majordomo is new to the new-release business, its products have major-label distribution through Sony BMG.

“At the end it just felt like Majordomo were the smartest kids on the block,” says Airborne frontman Mikel Jollett, whose band was courted by labels big and small. “You look at it, and you think it’s a new venture, but there is a lot of experience in that room. … They came in with the smartest, most aggressive offer.”

Airborne’s album was made in the Eagle Rock studio of fledgling producer Pete Min, a friend of the band. It will include reworked versions of the three songs on the band’s self-released EP, as well as the single “Sometime Around Midnight,” which vaulted into regular rotation at radio outlets such as KROQ-FM (106.7) and Indie 103.1 (KDLD-FM).

The band has been slotted to perform on “Last Call With Carson Daly” on Tuesday, and has several festival dates lined up for the summer.