CBGB was a music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal at 315 Bowery, intersecting Bleecker Street, in the East Village. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a hangout for the local drunks. The letters CBGB were for country, bluegrass, and blues, Kristal's original vision, yet CBGB soon became a famed venue of punk rock and new wave bands like the Ramones, Television, Patti Smith Group, Blondie, and Talking Heads.