Low Stakes

Low Stakes show artwork

Low Stakes w/ John F. is a weekly freeform radio show hosted by John Flansburgh on Jeffersonville, New York-based public radio station WJFF every Friday at 9 PM ET on the station and its website.

Description

John F. spins music from all recorded genres, with everything from today's latest releases to field recordings from the 1930s. Thoughtfully curated with your mind in mind!^[1]

Prior to getting his own WJFF show, Flansburgh guest-hosted two episodes of The Secret Show (normally hosted by Bryan Sheehan) on WJFF on May 7 and 14, 2020. Three weeks later, Low Stakes began airing on June 5, 2020.

Episodes are produced remotely at home by Flansburgh before being sent to WJFF for broadcast, and are archived on the station's Mixcloud page shortly after airing. Between groups of tracks, Flansburgh often shares anecdotes about the selections, and refers to himself as "your radio pal, John F."

Flansburgh has also been using the Low Stakes name since 2017 for a series of playlists on the They Might Be Giants Spotify page, similarly highlighting selections of songs by some of his favorite artists.

Episode playlists

This section is currently under construction:
Feel free to lend a hand with previous episodes!

February 20, 2021

Theme: "The 'going' edition."

• Jet - "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" (2003)
• Bob Dylan - "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" (1971)
• The Bangles - "I'm Going Down To Liverpool" (1984)
• Dusty Springfield - "Goin' Back" (1966)
• The White Stripes - "We're Going to Be Friends" (2002)
• The Jam - "Going Underground" (1979)
• Mose Allison - "If You're Going to the City" (1962)
• The Zombies - "Going Out Of My Head" (1976)
• Eels - "I Like The Way This Is Going" (2010)
• LL Cool J - "Going Back To Cali" (1988)
• The Poppy Family - "Which Way You Goin', Billy?" (1969)
• Joe Jackson - "Is She Really Going Out With Him?" (1979)
• Jennifer Holliday - "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" (1982)
• Ben Folds - "Radio Jingles For Tokyo's Inter-FM" (2005)
• Elliot Smith - "Going Nowhere" (1994-1997)
• The Mountain Goats - "Going To Port Washington" (1999)
• The Monkees - "Goin' Down" (1967)
• ZZ Top - "Goin' Down To Mexico" (1971)

February 5, 2021

Theme: "Smoking, drugs, plus one segment of all new releases"

• The Isley Brothers - "Work to Do" (1972)
• Ronnie Spector - "Try Some, Buy Some" (1971)
• Françoise Hardy - "L'amour ne dure pas toujours" (1963)
• Sincere Engineer - "Tourniquet" (2021)
• The Band - "Time to Kill" (Live at the Royal Albert Hall, 1971)
• Weezer - "All My Favorite Songs" (2021)
• Willie Nelson - "That's Life" (2021)
• Arthur Russell - "Time Away" (2004)
• James Carr - "The Dark End of the Strong" (1967)
• The Rolling Stones - "Connection" (1967)
• The Free Design - "Love You" (1970)
• The Dixie Cups - "Iko Iko" (1964)
• Dave Von Ronk - "Cocaine Blues" (1962)
• The Original Blind Boys - "People Don't Sing Like They Used To Sing"
• Dan Reeder - "Clean Elvis" (2003)
• Cilla Black - "Anyone Who Had a Heart" (1964)
• The Clique - "Superman" (1969)
• k.d. lang - "Theme From the Valley of the Dolls" (1997)
• Little Feat - "Willin'" (1972)

January 29, 2021

Listen: Mixcloud

• St. Vincent - "Marry Me" (2007)
• Ms. Lauryn Hill - "Ex-Factor" (2008)
• The Magnetic Fields - "Acoustic Guitar" (1999)
• Norma Fraser - "The First Cut is the Deepest" (1967)
• The Roches - "Mr. Sellack" (1979)
• Dear Nora - "To Fail Is Not to Fail" (1999)
• The Mynabirds - "Numbers Don't Lie" (2010)
• Mary Ford, Les Paul - "Smoke Rings" (1952)
• Human Switchboard - "(Say No to) Saturday's Girl" (1981)
• Helen Forrest - "You Better Go Now" (1985)
• Shelly Duvall - "He Needs Me" (1980)
• P.P. Arnold - "Medicated Goo" (2017)
• Margo Guryan - "Sunday Morning" (2007)
• Margo Guryan - "Chopsticks Variation 3 - Allegretto" (2009)
• Love Apple - "Man on the Side" (2012)
• Olivia Rodrigo - "drivers license" (2021)

January 22, 2021

Theme: "Tonight Let's All Make Love in London"
Listen: Mixcloud

• X-Ray Spex - "Germ Free Adolescents" (2001)
• Allen Ginsburg - "Tonite Let's All Make Love in London" (1968)
• Lily Allen - "LDN" (2006)
• The Who - "Substitute" (1971)
• Sandie Shaw - "Jeane" (1988)
• The Specials - "Enjoy Yourself (It's Later Than You Think)" (1980)
• Billy Bragg - "Sexuality" (1991)
• Kristy McColl - "A New England" (1985)
• The Jazz Butcher - "Party Time" (1985)
• Mekons - "Where Were You?" (2010)
• The Troggs - "I Can't Control Myself" (1966)
• Arctic Monkeys - "Fluorescent Adolescent" (2007)
• Lloyd Cole and The Commotions - "Lost Weekend" (1985)
• Cat Stevens - "Portobello Road" (1967)
• The Jam - "Town Called Malice (demo)" (1982)
• Allen Ginsburg - "Tonite Let's All Make Love in London" (1968)
• David Bowie - "Where Are We Now?" (2013)
• Peter Stampfel - "Goldfinger" (1995)

January 15, 2021

Listen: Mixcloud

January 8, 2021

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January 1, 2021

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December 25, 2020

Theme: "The last bit of Christmas music for 2020"
Listen: Mixcloud

December 18, 2020

Under construction...

December 11, 2020

Theme: "John F.'s soul spectacular"
Listen: Mixcloud

December 4, 2020

Listen: Mixcloud

November 27, 2020

Under construction...

November 20, 2020

Listen: Mixcloud

November 13, 2020

Under construction....

October 30, 2020

Listen: Mixcloud

October 23, 2020

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• Nina Simone - "Feeling Good" (1965)
• Neil Young - "I Wonder If I Care As Much" (2014)
• Jeff Beck - "You Shook Me" (1968)
• John Cooper Clarke - "Night People" (1982)
• Nancy Sinatra - "Not the Lovin' Kind" (1966)
• Liz Green - "Bei Mir Bist Du Shein" (2012)
• Fiona Apple & Jon Brion - "Everyday" (2011)
• Yo La Tengo - "Wasn't Born to Follow" (2020)
• T. Rex - "Mambo Sun" (1971)
• James Chance and the Contortions - "Contort Yourself" (1978)
• Lijadu Sisters - "Come On Home" (1979)
• Girlpool - "Before the World Was Big" (2015)
• The Nashville Teens - "Tobacco Road" (1964)
• The Louvin Brothers - "Satan Is Real" (1959)
• Blossom Dearie - "Some Other Time" (1959)
• Falsettos - "Four Jews in a Room Bitching" (2016)
• Jimmy Giuffre - "Jimmy & Bobby"

October 16, 2020

Listen: Mixcloud

October 9, 2020

Under construction...

October 2, 2020

Theme: "A full hour tribute to the compositions, productions, arrangements and performances of Allen Toussaint. Everything this shows plays is going to be funky."
Listen: Mixcloud

• Robert Palmer - "Night People" (1978)
• Labelle - "Lady Marmalade" (1974)
• Irma Thomas - "Time Is on My Side" (1964)
• Lee Dorsey - "Working in the Coal Mine" (1966)
• Aaron Neville - "Hercules" (1973)
• Dr. John - "Right Place, Wrong Time" (1973)
• Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - "Fortune Teller" (2007)
• Allen Toussaint - "Get Out of My Life, Woman" (Live)
• Bonnie Raitt - "What Is Success" (1974)
• The Band - "Life Is a Carnival" (1971)
• The Meters - "Cissy Strut" (1969)
• Irma Thomas - "It's Raining" (1962)
• Jonathan Richman and The Modern Lovers - "It Will Stand" (1975)
• Allen Toussaint - "Southern Nights" (1975)
• The Yardbirds - "A Certain Girl" (1964)
• Little Feat - "On Your Way Down" (1973)

September 25, 2020

Theme: "An hour of hard lefts and rights because it is being put together very spontaneously"
Listen: Mixcloud

• Jonathan Richman and The Modern Lovers - "Hospital" (1972)
• The Tokens - "Hear the Bells" (1963)
• The Fugs - "Nothing" (1965)
• The Band - "Commercial for the album Stage Fright" (1970)
• Fountains of Wayne - "Hackensack" (2003)
• The Pointer Sisters - "Yes We Can Can" (1973)
• The Firesign Theatre - Sketch (from Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers) (1970)
• The Cookies - "Only to Other People" (1963)
• NRBQ - "I Want You Bad" (1978)
• The Undertones - "Teenage Kicks" (1978)
• Charles Strouse & Martin Charnin - "Tomorrow" from the Musical Annie (1977)
• Pere Ubu - "Life Stinks" (19)
• Raymond Scott & Jim Henson - "Bufferin:Memories Commercial" (1967)
• The Exciters - "Blowing Up My Mind" (1972)
• The Monks - "Monk Time" (1966)
• Au Pairs - "We're So Cool" (1981)
• Bob Dylan - "Copper Kettle" (1970)

September 18, 2020

Listen: Mixcloud

September 11, 2020

Under construction...

September 4, 2020

Listen: Mixcloud

August 21, 2020

Theme: Soul music
Listen: Mixcloud

August 14, 2020

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August 7, 2020

Listen: Mixcloud

• The Velvet Underground - "After Hours" (1969)
• Annie Ross - "Twisted" (1951)
• Prince - "Kiss" (1986)
• The Barbarians - "Are You a Boy or Are You a Girl" (1965)
• Peggy Lee - "Fever" (1958)
• Belle and Sebastian - "If She Wants Me" (2003)
• Shuggie Otis - "Aht Uh Mi Hed" (1974)
• Mary J. Blige ft. 50 Cent - "MJB da MVP" (2005)
• Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels - "Sock It to Me Baby!" (1967)
• Vampire Weekend - "Oxford Comma" (2008)
• Madeline Kenney - "White Window Light" (2020)
• Moondog - "All is Loneliness" (?)
• Stephen Sondheim & Mary Rodgers - "The Boy From..." from The Mad Show (1966)
• The Folk Implosion - "Pole Position" (1997)
• The Kinks - "Where Have All the Good Times Gone" (1965)
• King Pleasure & Annie Ross - "Red Top" (1957)

July 31, 2020

Listen: Mixcloud

• Sylvan Esso - "Ferris Wheel" (2020)
• Joan Armatrading - "Love and Affection" (1976)
• Andrew Lloyd Webber & Tim Rice - "Heaven On Their Minds" from Jesus Christ Superstar (1970)
• The Specials - "Ghost Town" (1981)
• Yo La Tengo - "Meet the Mets" (2006)
• Johnny Kidd & the Pirates - "Shakin' All Over" (1960)
• Victor Uwaifo - "Arabade" (1980)
• Joni Mitchell - "A Case of You" (1971)
• Paul Williams - "Someday Man" (1970)
• Lou Reed - "Vicious" (1973)
• Curtis Mayfield & The Impressions - "Sad, Sad Girl and Boy" (1963)
• Run the Jewels ft. Greg Nice & DJ Premier - "Ooh La La" (2020)
• Tweedy - "Low Key" (2014)
• War - "Slippin' into Darkness" (1971)
• The Mountain Goats - "This Year" (2005)

July 24, 2020

Theme: Dance party!
Listen: Mixcloud

• Dua Lipa - "Don't Start Now" (2019)
• Q-Tip - "Vivrant Thing" (1999)
• Robyn - "Call Your Girlfriend" (2011)
• Daft Punk - "One More Time" (2000)
• Sia - "Chandelier" (2014)
• Childish Gambino - "Redbone" (2016)
• Rihanna ft. Jay-Z - "Umbrella" (2007)
• Bell Biv DeVoe - "Poison" (1990)
• The Weeknd - "Can't Feel My Face" (2015)
• N.E.R.D. - "She Wants to Move" (2004)
• Teena Marie - "Square Biz" (1981)
• Karol G & Nicki Minaj - "Tusa" (2019)
• Pete Shelley - "Homosapien" (1981)
• Lauryn Hill - "Everything is Everything" (1999)
• Eric B. & Rakim - "Paid in Full" (1987)

July 17, 2020

Mini Theme: Songs with "one note things" (saxophone in "Flying Home", guitar in "Cinnamon Girl", and saxophone in "Corn Bread")
Listen: Mixcloud

• The Beths - "I'm Not Getting Excited" (2020)
• Pearly Queen - "Quit Jive'in" (1974)
• Christopher Logue - "Sometimes It's Like You're Dead" (1963)
• Robbie Fulks & Linda Gail Lewis - "Wild! Wild! Wild!" (2018)
• Sharhabil Ahmed - "Argos Farfish" (2020)
• Sasha Dobson - "Simple Things" (2020)
• Robert Preston - "Ya Got Trouble" from The Music Man (1957)
• Lionel Hampton with Illinois Jacquet - "Flying Home" (1939)
• Neil Young - "Cinnamon Girl" (1970)
• Hal Singer Sextet - "Corn Bread" (1948)
• Van Morrison - "Whatever Happened to P.J. Proby?" (2002)
• Jakob Dylan & Jade Castrinos - "Go Where You Wanna Go" (2019)
• Pete Shelley - "Homosapien" (1981)
• Al Green - "For the Good Times" (1972)
• The Monkees - "She" (1967)
• The Magnetic Fields - "How I Failed Ethics" (2017)

July 10, 2020

Theme: Songs you may know more popular versions of.
Listen: Mixcloud

• Ann Peebles - "I Can't Stand the Rain" (1973)
• Avenue Beat - "F2020" (2020)
• Leonard Bernstein & Stephen Sondheim - "Jet Song" from West Side Story (1957)
• Billy Bragg - "Sexuality" (1991)
• Eartha Kitt - "I Want to Be Evil" (1954)
• Das Racist - "Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell" (2008)
• Ramones - "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker" (1977)
• Norma Tanega - "You're Dead" (1966)
• France Gall - "Laisse tomber les filles" (1964)
• The Elgins - "Put Yourself In My Place" (1965)
• Fountains of Wayne - "All Kinds of Time" (2003)
• The Delfonics - "Ready or Not Here I Come (Can't Hide from Love)" (1968)
• Barbara Dane - "I Hate the Capitalist System" (1973)
• Television - "Little Johnny Jewel Parts 1 and 2" (1975)
• Aaron Neville - "She Took You for a Ride" (1967)
• LCD Soundsystem - "New York, I Love You but You're Bringing Me Down" (2007)
• Arthur Alexander - "Burning Love" (1972)

July 3, 2020

Listen: Mixcloud

• Pixies - "Gigantic" (1988)
• Annette Hanshaw - "Ho Hum" (1931)
• The Chi-Lites - "Are You My Woman? (Tell Me So)" (1970)
• Cate le Bon - "Are You With Me Now?" (2013)
• Malcolm McLaren - "Buffalo Gals" (1983)
• Amerie - "1 Thing" (2005)
• The Meters - "Oh, Calcutta!" (1969)
• Eddie Bo and the Soul Finders - "Hook and Sling" (1968)
• Dr. John - "Such a Night" (1973)
• David Bowie - "Héros" (1973)
• Laurie Anderson - "O Superman" (1981)
• The Cramps - "Human Fly" (1983)
• The Equals - "I Get so Excited" (1968)
• The Who - "Batman" (1966)
• Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band - "Express Yourself" (1970)

June 26, 2020

Listen: Mixcloud

• Pretenders - "Stop Your Sobbing" (1980)
• Ernie K-Doe - "Here Comes the Girls" (1970)
• The Beths - "Future Me Hates Me" (2018)
• Arctic Monkeys - "Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High" (2013)
• Frank Black - "Headache" (1994)
• The Zombies - "This Will Be Our Year" (1968)
• Luke Kelly - "The Auld Triangle" (1967)
• Jay-Z, Kanye West - "Otis" (2011)
• Geek Music - The Twilight Zone Theme (2018 recording)
• Yung Wu - "Big Day" (2018)
• Todd Rundgren - "Couldn't I Just Tell You" (1972)
• Nick Lowe - "When I Write the Book" (1980)
• Paul Jones - "Free Me" (1967)
• Levon & The Hawks - "He Don't Love You (And He'll Break Your Heart)" (1994)
• Mac DeMarco - "Nobody" (2019)
• Georgie Fame & the Flames - "Get On The Right Track, Baby" (1965)
• Skeeter Davis - "The End of the World" (1962)
• The Who - "Baby Don't You Do It" (1971)

June 19, 2020

Listen: Mixcloud

• Michael Shelley - "Baby's In A Bad Mood" (1998)
• Big Star - "September Gurls" (1974)
• Jenny Lewis - "Just One of the Guys" (2014)
• Swamp Dogg, Justin Vernon - "Sleeping Without You Is a Dragg" (2020)
• Elvis Costello - "Watching the Detectives" (1977)
• T.S. Eliot - "The Hollow Men"
• St. Vincent - "Prince Johnny" (2014)
• Les Paul, Mary Ford - "How High The Moon" (1953)
• The National - "You Had Your Soul With You" (2019)
• Ohmme - "Icon" (2018)
• Soccer Mommy - "I Think You're Alright" (2020)
• The Walker Brothers - "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore" (1966)
• Jamie Lidell - "Multiply" (2005)
• Wee Willie Walker - "Not That I Care" (2015)
• The Creation - "How Does It Feel to Feel (1966)

June 12, 2020

Listen: Mixcloud

• Billie Holiday - "Strange Fruit" (1939)
• Johnny Cash - "Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream" (2003)
• Gil Scott-Heron - "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" (1971)
• Public Enemy - "Fight the Power" (1990)
• Nina Simone - "Mississippi Goddam" (1964)
• The Clash - "Career Opportunities" (1977)
• Lotte Lenya - "Pirate Jenny" (1954)
• Childish Gambino - "This Is America" (2018)
• Aimee Mann - "Can't You Tell" (2016)
• The Weavers - "Which Side Are You On?" (1961)
• Stevie Wonder - "You Haven't Done Nothin'" (1974)
• Mike Doughty - "Busting Up a Starbucks" (2005)
• The Residents - "When We Were Young" (1980)
• Rudy Vallée - "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" (1932)
• Marvin Gaye - "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)" (1971)
• Phil Ochs - "When I'm Gone" (1989)

June 5, 2020

Listen: Mixcloud

• Girlpool - "Cut Your Bangs" (2015)
• The Goon Sax - "Home Haircuts" (2016)
• Big Thief - "Cut My Hair" (2019)
• Pavement - "Cut Your Hair" (1994)
• Nina Simone - "Ain't Got No, I Got Life" (1968)
• Charles Ives - "General William Booth Enters Into Heaven" (1914)
• Kraftwerk - "Trans-Europe Express" (1977)
• Stephen Sondheim - "Not Getting Married" (1970)
• The Long Winters - "The Commander Thinks Aloud" (2005)
• The Jaynetts - "Sally Go 'Round the Roses" (1963)
• Os Mutantes - "A Minha Menina" (1968)
• Norma Tanega - "A Street That Rhymes at 6am" (1966)
• Car Seat Headrest - "Fill in the Blank" (2016)
• Guided By Voices - "Kicker of Elves" (1994)

May 14, 2020

John F. fills in for The Secret Show

• Raymond Scott, Dorothy Collins - "Hangover Dirt"
• Teenage Fanclub - "It's All in My Mind" (2005)
• The Roches - "The Married Men" (1979)
• Matthew Sweet - "Time Capsule" (1993)
• The Cookies - "I Never Dreamed"
• The Jive Five - "What Time Is It" (1962)
• Big Star - "September Gurls" (1974)
• Flamin' Groovies - "You Tore Me Down" (1976)
• The Bangles - "Going Down to Liverpool" (1984)
• The Feelies - "Fa ce-La" (2009)
• The Mills Brothers - "How'm I Doin'? (Hey! Hey!)"
• The Kossoy Sisters - "Bowling Green" (1956)
• The Beatles - "Two Of Us" (1970)
• Carole King - "He's a Bad Boy"
• Caroline Shaw - "Partita for 8 Singers: No. 1. Allemande" (2013)
• Brian Wilson - "One for the Boys" (1988)
• Comedian Harmonists - "Veronica, der Lenz ist da"
• The Monkees - "Riu Chiu"
• Gullivers People - "Splendor in the Grass"
• The Persuasions - "You Can Have Her" (1986)

May 7, 2020

John F. fills in for The Secret Show

• Bobby Charles - "Small Town Talk" (1972)
• Louis Armstrong - "(When We Are Dancin') I Get Ideas" (1951)
• Lorraine Ellison - "Try (Just a Little Bit Harder)" (1966)
• The Creation - "How Does It Feel to Feel" (1966)
• Esso Trinidad Steel Band - "I Want You Back" (1971)
• Skeeter Davis - "Things to You" (1986)
• Brian Eno - "Cindy Tells Me" (1973)
• Evie Sands - "Take Me For a Little While" (1969)
• Judy Garland - "If Love Were All" (1961)
• Fiona Apple - "Under the Table" (2020)
• Connie Converse - "Talkin' Like You (Two Tall Mountains)" (2009)
• Courtney Barnett - "Depreston" (2015)
• Glen Campbell - "Witchita Lineman" (1968)
• Drake - "Tossie Slide" (2020)
• John Prine - "Sam Stone" (1971)
• Dan Auerbach - "Waiting on a Song" (2017)
• Ron Sexsmith - "Secret Heart" (1995)
• Willie Bobo - "Spanish Grease" (1965)

External links

• Low Stakes homepage on WJFF 90.5FM Radio Catskill
• WJFF on Mixcloud, featuring full archived episodes of Low Stakes
• Low Stakes w/ John F., a frequently-updated Spotify playlist
• The Complete Low Stakes w/ John F. Playlist, an unofficial playlist comprised of every song played on the show