Hey BLONDIE - favourite sunglass shot ever!! | Inspired by the burgeoning new music scene at the Mercer Arts Center in Manhattan, Chris Stein sought to join a similar band. He joined the Stilettoes in 1973 as their guitarist and formed a romantic relationship with one of the band's vocalists, Debbie Harry, a former waitress and Playboy Bunny. Harry had been a member of a folk-rock band, The Wind in the Willows, in the late 1960s. In July 1974, Stein and Harry parted ways with the Stilettoes and Elda Gentile, the band's originator, forming a new band with ex-Stilettoes bandmates Billy O'Connor (drums; born October 4, 1953, Germany, died March 29, 2015, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Fred Smith (bass). Originally billed as Angel and the Snake for two shows in August 1974, they renamed themselves Blondie by October 1974. The name derived from comments made by truck drivers who catcalled "Hey, Blondie" to Harry as they drove past.