Hosted by Mangus Khan
[A breath. Vinyl static rises like wind across a gravel road. A faint piano chord settles in.]
“It’s after midnight.
You’ve crossed over into Late Night Grooves.
WHOT—The hottest in the cool.
I’m Mangus Khan, your host and your echo.
Tonight we spin Aretha Franklin.
Not the queen with the coronation hits. Not ‘Respect’ or ‘Chain of Fools’ or any of the polished brilliance that got sewn into American memory.
No.
Tonight we drop the needle on a cut you don’t hear in commercials or cover bands.
“Oh Baby.”
From Spirit in the Dark, 1970.
And if you think you know Aretha, this one might shake that belief loose.
See, the world remembers the power. The strength. The majesty.
But they forget—or maybe they never noticed—that tucked deep inside that voice was something else:
Vulnerability so sharp it could wound you.
That’s what you hear in “Oh Baby.”
She’s not just singing. She’s unraveling.
“Oh baby… don’t you break my heart this time…”
It’s a plea, but there’s no collapse.
This isn’t begging. This is knowing. This is Aretha standing in the eye of the storm, not because she’s weak—but because she’s lived through enough heartbreak to recognize its scent in the wind.
The voice is still thunder, sure—but here, the thunder whispers.
And that’s the part that knocks you flat.
We celebrate her vocal fire so much that we sometimes miss the quiet devastation she was capable of.
This track aches. The band plays loose, like they’re afraid to crowd her.
The rhythm sways. The piano drifts.
And Aretha?
She gives you less—and that makes it hit harder.
She holds back just enough to let the words sink in.
Because when someone like Aretha pulls back?
That silence is louder than most folks’ whole catalog.
“Oh Baby” isn’t about heartbreak.
It’s about the moment before—when you see it coming and you still dare to hope it’ll pass you by.
That’s where this song lives.
That moment of raw honesty between two people… and between a singer and her truth.
Episode 141.
Spirit in the Dark is the album.
“Oh Baby” is the confession.
And Aretha?
She’s not just performing.
She’s offering a version of herself that most fans were never ready for.
And still aren’t.
This is Late Night Grooves.
Only on WHOT.
I’m Mangus Khan.
And tonight, we don’t rise—we reveal.”