Audio Essays: Hear the Original 1971 Cauldron Record and Explore the New 50th Anniversary MP3 Recording

Audio Essays: Hear the Original 1971  Cauldron Record and Explore the New 50th Anniversary MP3 Recording

The 1971 Cauldron yearbook included this now classic 33 1/3 RPM record that offered an aural history of life for Northeastern college students between 1966 and 1971

The 1971 Cauldron yearbook was a creative break from what had gone before, befitting the times and its spirit of innovation and experimentation. Graduating seniors opened the book and found a plastic record with an audio essay reflecting on the events and ideas of previous five years.  It was produced at NU using what was considered to be cutting-edge audio technology at the time – four-track recording, the same format used a few years before by the Beatles for the “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” album.  When the idea for this 50th anniversary Cauldron edition came along, we decided to create a new audio edition. During the intervening years computer-based audio had largely replaced analog technology and record players and phonographic needles were seldom found anymore. MP3 audio and publication of sound on the internet were beyond the comprehension of our younger selves and in some ways we were living in a different world.

The classic recording included with the 1971 yearbook
The Cauldron recording reimagined to celebrate the 50 years after college