Becker & Fagen

by William Ruhlmann Walter Becker (b. February 20, 1950) formed a musical partnership with Donald Fagen (b. January 10, 1948) when both were students at Bard College in the 1960s. They were members of a late edition of Jay & the Americans in 1969 and were sponsored by Kenny Vance of that group, writing and recording the soundtrack to a low-budget film called You Gotta Walk It Like You Talk It (Or You'll Lose That Beat) in 1970. Moving to ABC Records as staff writers in 1971, they formed the group Steely Dan, one of the most popular groups of the 1970s. In 1981, Fagen went solo and Becker went into production, both part-time. They reunited when Becker produced Fagen's second album, Kamakiriad, in 1993, and toured as Steely Dan in the summers of 1993 and 1994. Becker released his debut solo album, Eleven Tracks of Whack, in 1994.