Now a band in their own right, the Nice expanded their gear, recruiting roadies Bazz Ward and Lemmy, the latter of whom provided Emerson with a Hitler Youth ceremonial dagger to stick into the keys on his Hammond organ. They spent the end of 1967 on a package tour with Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, the Move and Amen Corner. Pink Floyd's then leader, Syd Barrett, missed several gigs and O'List had to stand in for him. The group's first album was recorded throughout the autumn of 1967, and in October of that year they recorded their first session for John Peel's radio show "Top Gear". The album included classical and jazz influences including extracts from Leoš Janáček's "Sinfonietta" and a rearrangement of Dave Brubeck's "Blue Rondo a la Turk" renamed as "Rondo", changing the time signature from the original 9/8 to 4/4 in the process. The group clashed with producer Oldham in the studio over the length of the track, but eventually won the argument; the full eight-minute piece was included on the album. After the album was released, the group realised that Oldham had a conflict of interest as manager and record company owner, so they recruited sports journalist Tony Stratton-Smith to take over management duties.