Andy Richards took Kelly's place for "Hey Manhattan!" and "The Golden Calf" was produced by McAloon alone. McAloon did not want the album's sound to be as uniform as Steve McQueens, and initially planned to use 10 different producers. This was ultimately deemed a logistical impossibility. The album features guest appearances from Pete Townshend, Stevie Wonder and the Andraé Crouch singers – McAloon felt the latter two's contributions proved the band's music was not exclusively British. Composition Musical and lyrical style In contrast to Prefab Sprout's previous work, most of the album's songs were written on keyboard and the album's sound has been described as "sonically soft". McAloon's home recording and composing setup at the time included a Roland JX-3P, a Roland JX-10, a Yamaha DX7, an Ensoniq Mirage and a Casiotone. McAloon was most comfortable with the JX-3P for composing while a Fostex B16 was used for recording demos. He aimed to write more accessible songs than those on the band's earlier records, stating "I've realised that a good simple song is better than a half-successful complicated one." McAloon also sought to expand the band's sound to incorporate his favourite elements of popular music, including gospel music and Broadway, and to reach an audience "seduced by the overall glamour and romanticism". According to Sam Sodomsky of Pitchfork, From Langley Park to Memphis includes an eclectic mix of styles including alternative rock ("The Golden Calf"), standards ("Nightingales") and Broadway-style singalong ("Hey Manhattan!"). Several songs feature American themes, reflected in the album's title. McAloon explained in a 1988 interview that he often drew inspiration from America for his songs because "America remains an inexhaustible source of myths and the extreme." Songs Of the album's ten tracks, Thomas Dolby produced "The King of Rock 'n' Roll", "I Remember That", "Knock on Wood" and "The Venus Of The Soup Kitchen". "The King of Rock 'n' Roll" was written in 1985. The lyrics are written from the perspective of a washed-up singer who had a one-hit wonder in the 1950s with a novelty song featuring the chorus "Hot dog, jumping frog, Albuquerque". McAloon was aware of the song's commercial potential early on, and felt it would surprise fans used to the band’s earlier, more cerebral material. Musically, "I Remember That" is, according to Nils Johansson of NSD, a gospel ballad. McAloon considered the song's nostalgic mood a lighter lyrical theme than that of a