Discogs has not only changed the way records are bought and sold, it's changed the way many people think about music. Launched 17 years ago, the site now has over 8 million releases listed, making it an unrivalled and invaluable source of information. It's likely the world's biggest secondhand music marketplace, with almost 5 million sales in 2016 alone.

Discogs has given RA exclusive access to its sales history. We've trawled through the data and highlighted some of the most expensive dance floor records ever sold through the site. From the incredibly rare, to curveball curiosities, these records tell us a lot about collectors' mindsets and the perpetual search for the perfect beat.

William Powell
Heartache Souvenirs / Chicken Shack
Power-House Records
$4,414

Expensive records were the lifeblood of northern soul, and back in the day new discoveries were closely guarded secrets. This lead to crafty tricks. A favourite was the "cover up," where DJs placed fake labels over the original. This meant that for some time, William Powell's Heartache Souvenirs was believed to be All These Things by Bobby Jason. Supposedly only ten copies of Heartache Souvenirs exist; Zeito Freitas, the owner of the world's largest record collection, has a copy. Heartache Souvenirs is the most expensive northern soul record sold on Discogs, but it's not even close to the priciest ever. In 2009, Frank Wilson's Do I Love You (Indeed I Do), of which there are apparently only two copies in the world, went for £25,742.

Dynamic Five
Love Is The Key
Manhattan Records
$4,250

Facts about Dynamic Five's Love Is The Key are hard to come by. The soul group were signed to United Artists, one of the era's most successful labels. Most likely, the record was deleted before ever being distributed. Whatever the case, Love Is The Key is now almost impossible to find and has only appeared on the secondhand market a handful of times in the past decade. Whenever it has, it's fetched upwards of $3,000.

Prince
Black Album
Warner Bros. Records
$2,250

The Black Album was intended as the follow up to Sign "O" The Times. But before its release, all copies were destroyed barring a handful of promos that slipped out to press. The theories as to why Prince pulled the project are often colourful. One even suggested that Prince decided he didn't like the album after he had a negative reaction to MDMA. Whatever the truth, original copies of The Black Album are among the most desirable records in the world.

Spontaneous Overthrow
All About Money
New-Ark Records Inc.
$2,137

All About Money was released on a tiny DIY label, New-Ark Recordings. It was privately pressed by the artists and distributed locally around New Jersey. Many privately pressed records are mediocre at best, but All About Money is fantastic. A strange slice of drum machine-led soul music, it sounds unlike anything of its era. The limited nature and truly unusual sound of this record has inflated its price to remarkable levels.

T.J. Hustler, Metaphysical Synthesized Orchestra
Age Of Individualism
SMOA Productions
$1,890

Age Of Individualism is a homemade synth wave record partially performed through a ventriloquist's dummy. It's also one of the strangest records committed to wax. The band's lead singer, Tim Jones, was a Vietnam veteran who performed in funk bands before this project. Notably, the record's packaging is even odder than the music: two pieces of white textured cardboard are bound by yarn on the spine. Supposedly only 50 to 100 copies of Age Of Individualism were ever produced.

Martin Dumas Jr.
Attitude, Belief & Determination
Taurean Connection
$1,603

The price of sought-after vinyl often doesn't correlate with the music's quality. But this isn't the case with Martin L Dumas Jr.'s Attitude, Belief & Determination. The record is impossibly uplifting and, until recently, impossibly hard to find. Reissued by BBE, Attitude Belief & Determination has now deservedly found a global audience.

Various
De La Viande Pour Le Disco?
Banana Split ‎
$1,496

Darlin' are to electronic music what The Quarrymen are to pop. Featuring Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, who would of course go on to form Daft Punk, and Laurent Brancowitz of Phoenix, in 1993 the group released an EP of noisy indie. NME unwittingly coined one of the best-known names in electronic music when they called it "daft punky trash." This 1995 cassette-only compilation features two obscure and untitled Darlin' tracks. The highlight sees the indie group throwing down their guitars in favour of drum machines and house-diva yelps, a template that would soon lead two of the group to global stardom.

Chianese
Day By Day
Westudio
$1,282

This is the most expensive Italo disco record ever sold on Discogs. It's not very good, but don't let that stop you from dropping a grand on it.

Underground Resistance
Z Record
Underground Resistance
$1,282

Z Record is probably the most lusted-after piece of Detroit techno vinyl. It was intended to be played by Underground Resistance members, as alluded to with a note on the label: "For UR DJ Assault Use Only." The record came with no tracklist and most of the music here is still of mysterious origin. Only one track, "Soul Power," has been identified, credited to Mike Banks under his 038 alias. The other music has popped up on a couple of UR-related mix CDs.

Aphex Twin
Analogue Bubblebath 5
Rephlex
$1,251

This was intended to be the fifth release in Richard D. James's Analogue Bubblebath, but at the last moment James decided against the release. Only 20 test presses were made, which were sent to customers who had issues with another order from James's label. The unconventional distribution, and lack of information on the record, has made this one of Aphex Twin's most elusive releases.

Gina
Hooked On Your Love
NIA Records
$1,063

Gina's Hooked On Your Love is a curious one. It's a cover version of The Fantastic Aleems' Hooked On Love. The original version, which featured Leroy Burgess and Luther Vandross, was a Paradise Garage anthem and is as good as disco gets; Gina's obviously inferior version goes for a hundred times the price.

Aphex Twin
Syro
Warp Records
$975

This vinyl version of Syro was limited to 200 copies and only available via ballot. It comes in a box emblazoned with Richard D. James' face and contains a screen print from the vinyl's mother plate.

Charanjit Singh
Synthesizing - Ten Ragas To A Disco Beat
His Master's Voice
$800

Charanjit Singh's Synthesizing sounds like it came from an alternate dimension. It's proto acid house, full of 303 squeals and fast-paced 909 drum beats, made by an Indian visionary. Unbelievably, it predated Chicago house releases by some years. This kink in the dance music space-time continuum makes this one of the most fascinating and historically important releases on this list.

Jeremy
Semi-Structured Life
Driftwood
$748

Driftwood has amassed a cult following among a small group of music fans. The American deep house label had a subtle earworm quality that's made it popular with lovers of late-night sounds. Jeremy, AKA Jean Frank Cochois, released Driftwood's most popular releases. This dub-influenced house track was only pressed as one of 100. New versions of the record rarely come on the market, and when they do they shift for big money.

Clarence
Hyperspace Sound Lab
Flourescent Forest Rec. ‎
$700

Clarence G was the first alias of James Stinson, who later formed Drexciya with Gerald Donald. Released a year before Dexciya's debut EP, Deep Sea Dweller, this record was the basis for a sound that continues to enthral electro fans decades later.

Mr. Fingers
Mystery Of Love
Alleviated Records
$641

This first run of Mr Finger's Mystery Of Love is an artefact of house music history. The B-side dub, different from the more readily available "Mystery Of Dub" version on D.J. International, is the main draw for dance music historians.

DJ Lewi
After Hours
Jet Star Records
$641

DJ Lewi's After Hours is the holy grail of rare jungle. Jet Star, who released After Hours, were a prolific ragga label in the '80s. When jungle arrived the label jumped on the sound, producing some excellent ragga / breakbeat hybrids. This release, featuring UK dancehall legend Daddy Freddy, perfectly captures the atmosphere of early '90s pirate radio.

LFO
LFO
Warp Records
$599

What could be better than a copy of LFO's rave classic? How about an ultra-rare acetate version with a mysterious untitled B-side?

Boards Of Canada
Music Has The Right To Children
Warp Records
$575

Music Has The Right To Children is as good as electronic music albums get. This promotional cassette came with an unusual plastic case and is a serious collector's item for Boards Of Canada fans.

Lego Feet
Lego Feet
Skam
$550

Lego Feet is arguably the first Autechre album. Released two years before the duo's debut on Warp records, the album had no title or artist information, but it drips with addictive, bleepy productions. It signalled why Autechre would soon become one of electronic music's best loved acts.

Plastikman
Arkives 1993 - 2010
M_nus
$534

Richie Hawtin loves a concept. This release pushes the luxury box-set idea to extremes, with 15 CDs, a DVD and a booklet personalised with the buyer's name on the first page.

Amon Tobin
Amon Tobin
Ninja Tune
$534

This box set is constructed with two 1/2-inch thick plywood sheets, which bolt together via wing nuts.

Le Melange' Inc. Featuring China
Tortured Journey
Precision Records
$504

This acid house track was produced by cult Chicago producer Marcus Mixx, an artist whose records have become increasingly desirable on the secondhand market. Tortured Journey was the only release on Precision Records, a label that supposedly pressed this vinyl without the artist's permission.

Moodymann
Deleted Rehearsals / Analog:Live
KDJ
$500

All Moodymann releases are collectable, but perhaps none more so than this release from 2000. Released on a purple disc, some copies were given out at Moodymann's live shows and only a few are known to be in circulation. The rarity of the record is a shame as the dreamlike vibe of Shattered Dreams deserves to be more than a footnote in Kenny Dixon Jr's career.

David Mancuso
The Loft - Volume Two
Nuphonic
$500

David Mancuso's selections inspired a generation of DJs and the dance music scene as we know it. This compilation, released in 2000, is not hugely rare, but that didn't stop someone dropping $500 on it.

DJ Harvey
Sarcastic Study Masters Volume 2
Sarcastic
$500

Mix CDs don't get much better than Sarcastic Study Masters Volume 2. This Balearic-tinged session galvanised an army of track ID seekers and helped grow the myth of DJ Harvey as one of the ultimate diggers. Only 1000 copies were originally made, and even represses now go for over $100.

Pachanga Boys
Girlcatcher
Hippie Dance
$481

"Time" is an undeniable end-of-night anthem. But if you want a copy on vinyl you need to purchase one of the three limited edition versions of Girlcatcher.

Nasenbluten
500 / 600 / 1200 EP
Bloody Fist Records
$445

Hardcore breaks are an acquired taste, and this thrashing release from Newcastle, Australia is a cult favourite among fans of this harder-than-nails act. A few of the cuts verge on gabber, but the lead track, "Skullbash," is a surprisingly palatable rave banger.

Aphex Twin
Drukqs
Warp Records
$427

This audiophile vinyl version of Aphex Twin's landmark album was limited to 1000 copies. Unsurprisingly, collectors pay big bucks for it.

Daniel Bell
Elevate Special Projects 2
Elevate
$426

Dance music connoisseurs have always gravitated towards Daniel Bell's classy minimal house. This 1998 release was limited to 750 copies, and is up there with his best. "Subterranean" was the opening track on Sascha Dive's excellent 2008 RA podcast.

Sandwell District
Feed-Forward
Sandwell District
$417

Feed-Forward is up there with the best techno albums. It's also among the priciest. It established Regis, Function, Female and Silent Servant as one of the most important collectives in electronic music. Sadly, demand for the vinyl version, complete with a bonus 7-inch and a fanzine of Silent Servant artwork, quickly outstripped supply.

Disco-D
Dance Tracs
Alleviated Records
$400

One of Larry Heard's more obscure releases, these raw acid cuts have gained mythical status among house heads. A Clone reissue cooled some of the crazy prices on this one, but originals can still go for serious cash.

Kerri Chandler
Super Lover
Express Records
$399

Few artists arrive as fully formed as Kerri Chandler. Super Lover was Chandler's first foray into house music after producing hip-hop, but it immediately showed his talent for slamming drums and emotive melodies. (Tragically, the lead track, "Get It Off," was inspired by the murder of his girlfriend.) 27 years later, it's hard to find a better house record.

Prince of Denmark
8
Forum
$397

If someone told you that you could quadruple your investment in just 13 days, you'd expect the scheme to be illegal, or at best, immoral. But that's exactly what happened with 8. Released on 9th December 2016 for €100, a near-mint copy was sold for $397 on 22nd December.

Various
Ostgut Ton | Zehn
Ostgut Ton
$379

Only 100 of these limited-edition box sets were made, and they could only be purchased through the Ostgut site or in Berghain. The box contained ten vinyl, three CDs, a memory stick and artwork by the esteemed German artist and club culture enthusiast Wolfgang Tillmans.

Robert Hood
Minimal Nation
Axis
$378

Robert Hood more or less invented minimal techno, and his Minimal Nation EP was a genre-defining record. This alternate pressing, containing two exclusive tracks in collaboration with Jeff Mills, is one of the most prized techno records on the planet.

Theo Parrish
Sketches
Sound Signature
$375

There's a place in hell reserved for speculators who flip new releases on the secondhand market. Theo Parrish's Sketches is one record that's been hyped by profiteers. Originally released in 2010, a 2016 repress of Sketches was controversially priced at €75. Considering market forces, that punchy price tag actually seems reasonable.

Arthur Russell
In The Light Of The Miracle
Talkin' Loud
$375

The combo of Arthur Russell, Danny Krivit and Tony Smith encapsulates the best of NYC disco. As such, these rare mixes of In The Light Of The Miracle have mythological status among disco nerds. The original version was recorded in 1982 and first appeared on Russell's 1994 album Another Thought. The remixes were scheduled to come out on Gilles Peterson and Norman Jay's Talkin' Loud label; 100 promo copies were made but the full release never materialised.

Petre Inspirescu
Intr-o Seara Organica...
[a:rpia:r]
$331

For fans of headsy minimal grooves, it doesn't get much better than Petre Inspirescu's debut album. The record hasn't sold below $150 in years.

Ed Rush & Optical, Fierce
Pod
Virus Recordings
$300

Only five testpress copies of this drum & bass roller were ever made, making this record only marginally more available than a one-off dubplate.

And finally...

As this list show, a record's price isn't always indicative of its quality. Here are 60 great records for under $5, selected by RA staff.