Asylum Records was founded in 1971 by David Geffen (who later also founded Geffen Records). The label was initially distributed by Atlantic Records. Its inaugural release was the self-titled album by Judee Sill, released in September of that year.
Variant used on labels from 1975 to 1984.
1973–1984; 1992–2000; 2009–present[]
Designer:
Unknown
Typography:
Unknown
Launched:
October 1973
Asylum was merged with Elektra in August 1973, forming Elektra/Asylum/Nonesuch Records. Two months later, Asylum began to use a variant of Elektra's 1966 logo on 8-track and cassette tape packaging, as well as custom labels on select LP releases. The 1971 logo remained in concurrent use for most other applications.
Although initially retired in 1984, this logo was revived in 1992 when Asylum was reactivated as a country label. It was also revived by Warner Music Europe in 2009.
Inverted logo
Variant used on 8-track tape packaging, 1973-1974.
Several months after Elektra received a redesigned identity in late 1983, Asylum's identity was redesigned to match. The earliest verified appearance of this logo is on Teddy Pendergrass' Love Language album, released May 1984.
1985–1988, 2000–2004[]
In early 1985, the horizontal rule above the lettering was deleted from most applications.
In 1988, Asylum was deactivated and the remaining artist roster shifted to Elektra. Nevertheless, this logo saw selective use on some archival material in the 1990s, and was also briefly used by the reactivated label.
