{"data":{"id":"c8618876-e815-4fbe-bf8d-f8dda9fda573","originKind":"SYNDICATED","title":"'He always loved music': Life and Times of CKUA radio host Baba Singh","summary":"We don’t have a lot of solid facts when it comes to the life of Dilbagh Singh Bhangoo.\n\n“We don’t even know his real birthday,” says daughter Namananda Singh about her dad, better known to CKUA listeners as Baba, who died in mid-May. “He was born in Chandigarh, India, and the record keeping there was just a little different, especially in 1947.”\n\nBaba guessed at his own birthday, which he celebrated on September 8. We know that Baba made it over to Canada sometime in the early ‘70s and hopped between countries for a period of time. He also jumped between jobs. Namananda has memories of Baba’s cab licence pinned to a bulletin board in the family home from when he was driving in Toronto.\n\nHe apparently delivered the Globe & Mail at some point in his young life. Baba’s close friend and fellow CKUA host Grant Stovel says that while Baba wasn’t necessarily forthcoming about his pre-radio life, he did drop clues about past gigs, including stints in a machine shop and a nuclear power plant.\n\nBaba moved to Edmonton with his wife Margaret and their young family in the ‘80s. Already something of a known figure around town due to his imposing height, flowing robes, Sikh ceremonial knife and turban, Baba at some point decided that radio was where he was always meant to be. Not much of a surprise given his eclectic taste in music, which is likely why he first turned up at CJSR in the late ‘90s. It was at the free-flowing university radio station that he took the name Master Crocodile and hosted a show called Crocodile Connection.\n\nIt wasn’t long after that Baba put his sights on CKUA.\n\n“From what I was told he just kept applying,” recalls Stovel. “Finally, he got his chance for a last-minute slot. I don’t know if it was for a live show or just to operate pre-recorded shows, but it was Christmas Day or Christmas time one year, and finally (former programme manager) Brian Dunsmore said, ‘Hey, you keep applying, do you want to work Christmas Day?’ And that was his first way in, and then he just never left.”\n\nStovel believes that by the time Baba got to CKUA, he was ready for the gig. While it might have seemed to have been seat-of-the-pants radio to a casual listener, there was actually a great deal of premeditation and preparation that went into what Baba did. Stovel remembers watching his friend practicing crossfade transitions between songs on a little DJ CD deck, just to see if he could make one song flow properly into the other. From personal experience, I can say that if there was one thing Baba would not countenance, it was disrespect to the work of a musical artist.\n\n“He always loved music, and that was such a big part of my growing up,” says Namananda. “We used to watch the Woodstock movie together. I was obsessed with the ‘60s in my teen years, and so we bonded a lot over that. He’s told the story, and a lot of his fans know about when his grandmother was dying. Dad would be listening to American music, his sisters would say, ‘Oh, turn that off.’ But his grandmother loved it, she loved Jimi Hendrix.”\n\nWhen Stovel also made the jump from college radio to CKUA in the early 2000s, Baba was remarried to singer Lara Yule and running a show called Overnight. It was there that he first saw Baba in action as they overlapped with their respective late-night shows. Stovel, who had been steeped in the blues from a young age and perhaps overly aware of radio sensibilities, would fret over what he should be playing. On the other hand, he would walk into Baba playing Hotel California or perhaps a Loverboy track. Music that you wouldn’t necessarily expect to hear on CKUA, but in Stovel’s opinion a great example of Baba’s musical judo.\n\n“I remember thinking, ‘Oh, that’s why it’s the most appropriate thing for Baba to be playing right now. It’s what I’m not expecting.’ It was like a really amazing moment of enlightenment for me.”\n\nBaba’s connection with his audience was remarkable. While he took his work seriously, his mischievous personality often crept to the fore, along with his evident kindness and warmth, which made him a very magnetic personality. He became a local celebrity with his Mid Morning Mojo show, and people would surround him at events like the Folk Fest.\n\nBaba was loved, and Baba loved his listeners in return. His retirement from CKUA in 2024 came after a number of health scares, and would have been very difficult for a man who needed connection. In March of this year, his doctor ordered blood work, and then he had to be admitted to the hospital with very low hemoglobin. It wasn’t long after a stroke that he finally passed.\n\nStill, we remember Baba as a giant. Social media may be poisonous in many ways, but if you do any amount of searching, you’ll find a number of often funny anecdotes detailing positive and quirky encounters with Baba. Namananda recalls him as humble, not fully understanding his celebrity status in town but enjoying the social side of it. While she enjoys and appreciates his local celebrity, for her and her siblings, Baba was dad, and family was of paramount importance to him. Especially with the birth of his first grandchild a few years ago.\n\nFor Stovel, Baba’s arc was something magical.\n\n“I think of it as sort of a fairy tale or a manifestation of destiny,” Stovel says.”He grew up in a town so tiny and isolated that they had one radio, and people would sort of take turns going over to that person’s house and listening to it. Baba didn’t discover his calling until he was well into his 50s, and then once he found it, it became a sensational discovery of true self, and it’s just such a beautiful and rewarding story that way.”\n\nRelated Keith Gerein: How Edmonton's old CKUA building is being used to 'crowd-fund' Downtown revitalization\n\nEdmonton's CKUA Radio thanks listeners for donations ahead of 10-day fall fundraiser\n\nBookmark our website and support our journalism: Don’t miss the news you need to know — add EdmontonJournal.com and EdmontonSun.com to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here.\n\nYou can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today: The Edmonton Journal | The Edmonton Sun.","url":"https://edmontonjournal.com/entertainment/local-arts/he-always-loved-music-life-and-times-of-ckua-radio-host-baba-singh","imageUrl":"https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/edmontonjournal/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/witchery-p3250028_3439205.jpg","publishedAt":"2026-05-29T11:00:49.000Z","sourceLabel":"Edmonton Journal Music","tags":["Local Arts"],"authorName":"Tom Murray","contentHtml":"\"Dilbagh

We don’t have a lot of solid facts when it comes to the life of Dilbagh Singh Bhangoo.

“We don’t even know his real birthday,” says daughter Namananda Singh about her dad, better known to CKUA listeners as Baba, who died in mid-May. “He was born in Chandigarh, India, and the record keeping there was just a little different, especially in 1947.”

Baba guessed at his own birthday, which he celebrated on September 8. We know that Baba made it over to Canada sometime in the early ‘70s and hopped between countries for a period of time. He also jumped between jobs. Namananda has memories of Baba’s cab licence pinned to a bulletin board in the family home from when he was driving in Toronto.

He apparently delivered the Globe & Mail at some point in his young life. Baba’s close friend and fellow CKUA host Grant Stovel says that while Baba wasn’t necessarily forthcoming about his pre-radio life, he did drop clues about past gigs, including stints in a machine shop and a nuclear power plant.

Baba moved to Edmonton with his wife Margaret and their young family in the ‘80s. Already something of a known figure around town due to his imposing height, flowing robes, Sikh ceremonial knife and turban, Baba at some point decided that radio was where he was always meant to be. Not much of a surprise given his eclectic taste in music, which is likely why he first turned up at CJSR in the late ‘90s. It was at the free-flowing university radio station that he took the name Master Crocodile and hosted a show called Crocodile Connection.

It wasn’t long after that Baba put his sights on CKUA.

“From what I was told he just kept applying,” recalls Stovel. “Finally, he got his chance for a last-minute slot. I don’t know if it was for a live show or just to operate pre-recorded shows, but it was Christmas Day or Christmas time one year, and finally (former programme manager) Brian Dunsmore said, ‘Hey, you keep applying, do you want to work Christmas Day?’ And that was his first way in, and then he just never left.”

\"

Stovel believes that by the time Baba got to CKUA, he was ready for the gig. While it might have seemed to have been seat-of-the-pants radio to a casual listener, there was actually a great deal of premeditation and preparation that went into what Baba did. Stovel remembers watching his friend practicing crossfade transitions between songs on a little DJ CD deck, just to see if he could make one song flow properly into the other. From personal experience, I can say that if there was one thing Baba would not countenance, it was disrespect to the work of a musical artist.

“He always loved music, and that was such a big part of my growing up,” says Namananda. “We used to watch the Woodstock movie together. I was obsessed with the ‘60s in my teen years, and so we bonded a lot over that. He’s told the story, and a lot of his fans know about when his grandmother was dying. Dad would be listening to American music, his sisters would say, ‘Oh, turn that off.’ But his grandmother loved it, she loved Jimi Hendrix.”

When Stovel also made the jump from college radio to CKUA in the early 2000s, Baba was remarried to singer Lara Yule and running a show called Overnight. It was there that he first saw Baba in action as they overlapped with their respective late-night shows. Stovel, who had been steeped in the blues from a young age and perhaps overly aware of radio sensibilities, would fret over what he should be playing. On the other hand, he would walk into Baba playing Hotel California or perhaps a Loverboy track. Music that you wouldn’t necessarily expect to hear on CKUA, but in Stovel’s opinion a great example of Baba’s musical judo.

“I remember thinking, ‘Oh, that’s why it’s the most appropriate thing for Baba to be playing right now. It’s what I’m not expecting.’ It was like a really amazing moment of enlightenment for me.”

Baba’s connection with his audience was remarkable. While he took his work seriously, his mischievous personality often crept to the fore, along with his evident kindness and warmth, which made him a very magnetic personality. He became a local celebrity with his Mid Morning Mojo show, and people would surround him at events like the Folk Fest.

Baba was loved, and Baba loved his listeners in return. His retirement from CKUA in 2024 came after a number of health scares, and would have been very difficult for a man who needed connection. In March of this year, his doctor ordered blood work, and then he had to be admitted to the hospital with very low hemoglobin. It wasn’t long after a stroke that he finally passed.

Still, we remember Baba as a giant. Social media may be poisonous in many ways, but if you do any amount of searching, you’ll find a number of often funny anecdotes detailing positive and quirky encounters with Baba. Namananda recalls him as humble, not fully understanding his celebrity status in town but enjoying the social side of it. While she enjoys and appreciates his local celebrity, for her and her siblings, Baba was dad, and family was of paramount importance to him. Especially with the birth of his first grandchild a few years ago.

For Stovel, Baba’s arc was something magical.

“I think of it as sort of a fairy tale or a manifestation of destiny,” Stovel says.”He grew up in a town so tiny and isolated that they had one radio, and people would sort of take turns going over to that person’s house and listening to it. Baba didn’t discover his calling until he was well into his 50s, and then once he found it, it became a sensational discovery of true self, and it’s just such a beautiful and rewarding story that way.”

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You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today: The Edmonton Journal | The Edmonton Sun.

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