 Although all four members contributed to songwriting and vocals on the first album , Chilton and Bell dominated as a duo intentionally modeled on John Lennon and Paul McCartney . The album was recorded by Ardent founder John Fry , with Terry Manning contributing occasional backing vocals and keyboards . The title # 1 Record was decided towards the end of the recording sessions and evinced , albeit as a playful hope rather than a serious expectation , the chart position to be achieved by a big star . Although Fry — at the band 's insistence — was credited as " executive producer " , publicly he insisted that " the band themselves really produced these records " . Fry recalled how Ardent , one of the first recording studios to use a sixteen @-@ track tape machine , worked experimentally with the band members : " We started recording the songs with the intent that if it turned out OK we 'd put it out [ ... ] I wound up being the one that primarily worked on it : I recorded all the tracks and then they would often come late at night and do overdubs . One by one , they all learned enough engineering . " 
