98.6 The Mouth was the invention of Carlito and Tuck in the fall of 2006 as a prank on the Madhouse community. In response to increasing tensions between different factions of the old PCU station it was decided, as a joke, to announce the formation of a new station called The Mouth to compete directly with PCU. The "channel" was debuted on October 26th, 2006.
It is important to take note of the irony of the title 98.6 The Mouth itself. First of all, it is impossible to tune a terrestrial radio to 98.6 on the FM dial anywhere in North America. 98.5 and 98.7 are possibilities. Secondly, 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit is the average internal body temperature of the human body and, in theory, the temperature of the human "mouth".
An unheralded effort behind the scenes quickly ensued to prepare the details of the prank with mere hours before that night's live Madhouse show. Longtime Madhouse contributor Earthdog quickly put together a 5 second station ID and promo for the event which was repeatedly played on the show and added to the hilarity and absurdity of the situation.
After touting a special announcement on the evening's show for the first segment of the night the proclamation was finally made of the new venture at 11:05 PM. Words of support began to filter in immediately from PCU and Madhouse listeners. An overwhelming majority of those listening live took the announcement as being legitimate. KDK, upset at the act of treason, retired for the evening with angry words (both public and private) for Carlito. Zolar, host of ZolarVision, immediately inquired on obtaining a spot on the new station. Several listeners voiced their grievances and vowed to never listen to The Mouth or Madhouse Radio again.
Perhaps the most befuddling concept of the night was the announcement of a new, revolutionary official website for the station created using funds from a secret, unnamed investor. The problem resided in figuring out how to reach the URL itself which was announced as being "98 point 6 the Mouth dot com" Listeners complained that there were several ways to interpretate it (98.6themouth.com, 98point6themouth.com, 98pt6themout.com, etc.), none of which were actually registered or available. Many confused listeners wrote, messaged and called in for clarification, especially after a talent search contest was announced on the site offering over $1500 in broadcasting equipment to the winning auditioner (again, funded by the mystery investor). Adding to the confusion was testimony from several people (in on the joke) remarking on the awesomeness of the new site, including former co-host Andy who expressed interest in auditioning and was named the early front-runner.
Although the joke was revealed at the end of the show requests for clarification on how to reach the Mouth website continued to come in for several weeks as podcasts subscribers listening later on were frustratingly unsuccessful in accessing it.
The Crazy Fucker From California later commented the following week: "It was like you pranked the rest of us man, the listeners and everybody"
Carlito later admitted to have "laughed himself to sleep" after the show was over.
Proposed talent/shows on The Mouth
- Cloned Home Grown's Condom Sense (Saturday Nights at 10 PM EST, competing against KDK's Lunatic Fringe)
- Joop's Monkeyphone (Friday Nights at 10 PM EST, competing against ZolarVision)
- Lil' Evil Neo (The Mouth of the Mouth)
- Lonesome Loser's Folk Music Show
The Jingle
Created by Earthdog and later edited by Carlito, the 98.6 jingle ends with a crunchy guitar riff sampled from Blink 182's B-Side Family Reunion track. It remains a popular audio sample and is played multiple times during Madhouse shows and is the first audio heard when listeners tune into the Madhouse Radio stream.
Legacy
98.6 The Mouth remains a regular staple of Madhouse Radio. It is the unofficial name of the Madhouse Radio internet feed and the jingle plays automatically upon tuning in.
The toll-free call in line was renamed "The Mouthline" in honor of the event. The Madhouse newsletter is also called "The Mouth".
The Mouth has been invoked during several prank calls, notably whenever a prank victim has asked if they are on the radio The jingle is played on the line via the phone patch along with applause in these cases. Also, several people have been led to believe they are on the receiving end of a gift from the faux station.
The domain 98.6themouth.com was eventually registered and redirects to the main Madhouse webpage.
