We’ve got obscure prog at the top, rare Madonna and Springsteen singles dotting the landscape, and jazz, jazz, jazz everywhere. Yep: it’s time for the July edition of the Top 30 Most Expensive Records Sold in the Discogs Marketplace.

The unusual LP at the number one spot this month is Motherlight, a 1970 release (and the sole output) from the Bobak Jons Malone team. As is usually the case with these weird psych/prog one off recordings there’s a fascinating story describing what was going on behind the scenes. The extremely short version: Motherlight was cut by a ragtag group of studio assistants and session instrumentalists during otherwise unbooked time at Morgan Sound Recording in London. The three musicians recorded here would later go on to establish themselves as accomplished production/engineering talents. Their individual fingerprints are all over some of the biggest rock records of the ’70s and ’80s, including releases from the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, the Kinks, Rod Stewart, and Iron Maiden. Now, surprisingly enough, the sounds on Motherlight don’t really stack up to all of that. Hey, you have to figure there was a reason why these dudes built their careers behind the console instead of in front of it. Copies are hard to find, though; I guess that’s all you need to know to explain the $2268 asking price for this one.

A clear pink ’86 pressing of Initium from Glenn Danzig‘s gothic punk project Samhain gets credit for the second highest sale this month at just a hair under $2k. Madonna shows up at number three, with a limited Philippines pressing of La Isla Bonita selling for $1800; you’ll also see The Material Girl slightly further down the list with the sixth highest sale of the month (just over $1.4k for a rare UK test pressing of the Borderline single). I could write on and on about this month’s fourth priciest item, a variant pressing of The Man Who Sold The World that brought in $1574. Suffice to say that this first full-length collaboration between David Bowie and Mick Ronson contains some of the former’s finest songs and some of the latter’s greatest guitar work. Rounding out the top five is Motherlove, an experimental recording from poet bpNichol. I don’t think there’s any way to do real justice to what is going on in this release via summary. At a minimum, a quick view of track titles and the album cover is recommended. Find some recordings online if you’re able. Then consider the $1552 price tag. Variety is the spice of life, I guess?

As always, there’s lots more fun sprinkled throughout the Top 30. Some of it is relatively predictable. Sure, there’s another early David Bowie record. That might be expected. It’s also not too surprising to see multiple variant copies of the first Led Zeppelin LP here. But two separate entries from the Who? That’s unusual. In fact, according to my records, that quiet little English combo previously had only two separate entries all time in the history of the Top 30. Maybe these Who fellows are starting to catch on. Meanwhile, we’ve got at least half a dozen jazz sales scattered around the Top 30, including a first pressing of Giant Steps, and multiple rarities from The Boss (including a very limited Israeli promotional 12″). There’s even a 73-disc Grateful Dead box set near the bottom of this month’s list. Because 70 discs just couldn’t get the job done.

There’s all that and more in the July edition of the most expensive records sold in Discogs. Take a look at all of the priciest sales below!