Becker and Fagen met in 1967 at Bard College. Fagen heard Becker practicing his electric guitar in a café, The Red Balloon, which Fagen liked and he asked Becker to join a band with him. They discovered that they enjoyed similar music and started writing songs together.
b ɛ k ə ɹ ɹ WORD_BOUNDARY æ n d WORD_BOUNDARY f eɪ d̠ʒ ə n WORD_BOUNDARY m ɛ t WORD_BOUNDARY ɪ n WORD_BOUNDARY n aɪ n t iː n h ʌ n d ɹ ɪ d WORD_BOUNDARY s ɪ k s t i WORD_BOUNDARY s ɛ v ə n WORD_BOUNDARY æ t WORD_BOUNDARY b ɑ ɹ d WORD_BOUNDARY k ɑ l ɪ d̠ʒ WORD_BOUNDARY f eɪ d̠ʒ ə n WORD_BOUNDARY h ɜː d WORD_BOUNDARY b ɛ k ə ɹ WORD_BOUNDARY p ɹ æ k t ɪ s ɪ ŋ WORD_BOUNDARY h ɪ z WORD_BOUNDARY ɪ l ɛ k t ɹ ɪ k WORD_BOUNDARY ɡ ɪ t ɑ ɹ WORD_BOUNDARY ɪ n WORD_BOUNDARY ʌ WORD_BOUNDARY k æ f eɪ WORD_BOUNDARY ð ə WORD_BOUNDARY ɹ ɛ d WORD_BOUNDARY b ə l uː n WORD_BOUNDARY w ɪ t̠ʃ WORD_BOUNDARY f eɪ d̠ʒ ə n WORD_BOUNDARY l aɪ k t WORD_BOUNDARY æ n d WORD_BOUNDARY h iː WORD_BOUNDARY æ s k t WORD_BOUNDARY b ɛ k ə ɹ WORD_BOUNDARY t ə WORD_BOUNDARY d̠ʒ ɔɪ n WORD_BOUNDARY ʌ WORD_BOUNDARY b æ n d WORD_BOUNDARY w ɪ ð WORD_BOUNDARY h ɪ m WORD_BOUNDARY ð eɪ WORD_BOUNDARY d ɪ s k ʌ v ə ɹ d WORD_BOUNDARY ð æ t WORD_BOUNDARY ð eɪ WORD_BOUNDARY ɛ n d̠ʒ ɔɪ d WORD_BOUNDARY s ɪ m ɪ l ə ɹ WORD_BOUNDARY m j uː z ɪ k WORD_BOUNDARY æ n d WORD_BOUNDARY s t ɑ ɹ t ɪ d WORD_BOUNDARY ɹ aɪ t ɪ ŋ WORD_BOUNDARY s ɔ ŋ z WORD_BOUNDARY t ə ɡ ɛ ð ə ɹ WORD_BOUNDARY