Teino Evans, Staff Reporter

Dexter 'The Ska Professor' Campbell indicates a small section of his vast vinyl collection. - Photos by Peta-Gaye Clachar/Staff Photographer

His humble appearance may cause the ordinary passer-by to take him for granted. Little do they know that Dexter Campbell has one of the largest vinyl record collections in this part of the hemisphere.

Affectionately referred to as 'The Ska Professor' from his days as a sound system selector specialising in ska music, Campbell says his collection is valued at over $15 million.

"Right now mi have 20,000 albums and 15,000 seven-inch (45s) and mi know mi can safely get roughly $15 million for my collection without a doubt," Campbell said.

But when he started collecting vinyl music it was not with the intention to one day become one of the largest collectors of his time. Instead, it was all for the love of the music.

"In my younger days I use to visit the dancehall and I use to love the music, so when I hear it I would go to the record shop and buy a likkle one an two record. Dem time deh a like two shilling and three shilling for them, till dem start sell fi like six dollars. Also in those days there were pre-release records that were more expensive, and those were the exclusive records," he recalled.

"Sometimes only like 25 copies were printed and I would be the only person in my area with that record," he added.

But as a youngster, Campbell says it was not easy to purchase records.

"I use to learn trade and I got eight shilling a week and that's how I get started buying records until I got big in the trade and started working at places like Standard Engineering, Desnoes and Geddes and then the bauxite company," he recalled.

Foundation music

And Campbell says judging from the reception he gets when he plays ska music abroad "it come in like Jamaica nuh know wah dem have an dem mek odda people a tek it ova. A nuff a di old singer dem just start mek money, like all a France. A promoter haffi come a Jamaica fi dem a carry dem guh pon stage show abroad.

"I play ska, rocksteady and early reggae, and when I go out to play people rail up an gwaan ... dem love it different."

Campbell says "Ska is the foundation of Jamaican music ... And it is what keeps the people on the dance floor."

He has received a number awards all across the world for his efforts in music, but says, "One of my special awards is the welcome that I get from the people when I travel abroad, because they give you the best of everything."

However, one of his most outstanding awards is the Lifetime Achievement Award which was presented to him on May 27, 2007 in Philadelphia, for his outstanding achievements as a record collector and his influence on and contribution to the record collecting fraternity. This was presented to Campbell by an international body called the Vinyl Collectors Association.

Campbell says although persons come to him in search of records, he does not really sell them.

He admits, though, "Mi have mi friend in Japan suh mi wi buy record and send some fi him an him wi sen a money fi mi from wah mi spend. He has a shop in Japan that sells strictly ska music and he also plays on the radio and it's strictly ska. Dem man deh promote ska more a Japan more than how we do it here in Jamaica and ska is the foundation music ... A di better music."

Currently, Campbell says he is preparing for another tour, where he will be playing in places like Florida and New York in the USA, Switzerland, Germany.

A passion

Dexter Campbell displays his Lifetime Achievement Award.

He says on average his tours last between two to three weeks, but recalls "The first time I toured it lasted for 28 days, when I played in 16 different places in Germany."

Campbell says he will never stop collecting, as "Mi all have a Ray Charles music fi guh buy pon 12 inch, dat cost US$150, an yuh cyan get dat inna Jamaica."

He, however, hopes to one day pass on his vast collection to his grandchildren and his friend in Japan.

"Mi have 15 grandchildren, certain part a mi collection mi wi leave for dem, but my friend in Japan name Massa, a him mi a leave mi collection for. Him love di music an him understand it, so a better me gi him an him can pass on di money to mi grandchildren. Fourteen years mi know him, an he says I'm his Jamaican father and he's my Japanese son," Campbell explained.

Campbell says he wants his legacy to live on and would love to be remembered "as Dexter Campbell coming from Echo Vibrations the sound system to the collector".