Soul Asylum is an American alternative rock band formed in 1981 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The band began using their official name in 1983. The band originally formed in 1981 under the name Loud Fast Rules, with a lineup consisting of Dave Pirner, Dan Murphy, Karl Mueller, and Pat Morley. Morley was replaced by Grant Young in 1984.
The group signed with A&M Records in 1988. Their first offering on that label was Clam Dip & Other Delights (1989), the title and cover art being a parody of Whipped Cream & Other Delights, by A&M Records co-founder Herb Alpert. Hang Time was released in 1988, followed by And the Horse They Rode In On in 1990 (produced by X-pensive Winos drummer Steve Jordan). Because of poor sales and Pirner's hearing problems, the group considered disbanding. After playing a series of acoustic shows in the early 1990s, they were picked up by Columbia Records. In 1992 they released Grave Dancers Union, which became their most popular album. On January 20, 1993, the group performed at the first inauguration of United States President Bill Clinton. Later that year, the band performed "Sexual Healing" for the AIDS benefit album No Alternative, produced by the Red Hot Organization. The band added keyboard player Joey Huffman in the summer of 1993. He toured with the band until joining Matchbox Twenty in 1998. Huffman played on the albums Let Your Dim Light Shine, After the Flood: Live from the Grand Forks Prom, June 28, 1997, and The Silver Lining. Soul Asylum won the 1994 Grammy Award for Best Rock Song for "Runaway Train". The music video for that song featured photographs and names of missing children, in the style of a public service announcement. At the end of the video, Pirner appeared and said, "If you've seen one of these kids, or you are one of them, please call this number", and then the telephone number of a missing children's help line was shown. For use outside the U.S., the video was edited to include photos and names of missing children from the area where the video would be shown. The video was instrumental in reuniting several children with their families. Before their next studio album, drummer Grant Young was fired and was replaced by Sterling Campbell. Campbell had been credited as providing percussion on Grave Dancers Union (although he had actually done at least half of the drumming on that album). The next release, Let Your Dim Light Shine, included the track "Misery", which reached the Top 20, but the album was not as successful as the band's previous one. In 1997 Soul Asylum performed a benefit concert for North Dakota students whose prom had been cancelled because of the Red River Flood of 1997. Some of the songs played during the prom were later released on After the Flood: Live from the Grand Forks Prom, June 28, 1997 in 2004. The group released Candy from a Stranger the following year. The album was unsuccessful, and the band was dropped by Columbia Records. Pirner said, "It's sort of sad to say, but you could see the whole grunge-rock-band thing getting totally over-saturated and people were looking for something new." The band took a step back; Pirner explained, "We needed to reassess how far we've gone and how much further we're going to go and which way we want to go and what we do right and what we do wrong. It was kind of time to take inventory."
What did they accomplish during this period?
Hang Time was released in 1988, followed by And the Horse They Rode In On in 1990 The group signed with A&M Records in 1988. The group signed with A&M Records in 1988. Their first offering on that label was Clam Dip & Other Delights (1989), The group signed with A&M Records in 1988. The group signed with A&M Records in 1988.
The group signed with A&M Records in 1988.