`Podfather' plots a radio hit of his own

After all, they add, it was an oversized ego that led to a 2005 scandal on Wikipedia -- the popular online encyclopedia in which Curry was found to have edited his own profile and exaggerated his role in the development of podcasting. That episode, and his new company's drive to monetize a medium that prides itself on being above something so crass, has earned Curry his share of detractors.

"It's unbelievable what comes out of people's mouths and fingers," said Curry. "Sometimes, it's like, 'I'm the evil demon, the overlord, trying to control history and create an evil PodShow empire.' It's unbelievable how unhappy some people must be with their own lives because they jump on stuff with such vigor, anger and hate."

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Maverick with a makeover

IT all sounds like something out of "Headbangers Ball," the weekly MTV late-night tribute to heavy metal music that Curry once hosted. Today, the 41-year-old seems as conventional as a company man and certainly a long way from the distorted electric guitar solos and death-obsessed lyrics of the hard rock genre.

He long ago shed his black leather jacket and cut back his shoulder-length, dirty blond locks, and at a recent interview, he sported black slacks, a pink shirt and conspicuous golden-framed glasses. He's been married to Dutch singer Patricia Paay for more than 20 years, time enough in his former world for at least two or three marriages; the couple have a teenage daughter.

But this is the same young man who in 1987 was hired by the upstart musical channel just as it began popping up in 40 million households nationwide. The experience brought him immediate fame in America and gave him an invaluable ground-floor view of a certifiable cultural revolution.

His MTV days influenced his current business path in an odd way. Instead of functioning as a blueprint for success as one might expect, the high-profile stint stands out only as the anti-model for his new company.

"I hated it.... It was such a restrictive place for creativity," he said of MTV. "There were just so many things you couldn't say," said Curry, who also once hosted MTV's "Top 20 Countdown." "It'd be like, 'Oh, you can't say that, we'll get kicked off basic cable.' Or I'd make a joke about Madonna and it would be, 'Oh, you can't say that, she might not perform in the music video awards.'

"I always said the funniest stuff on MTV never went on the air," he added. "I have outtake reels that could make me a millionaire again, but they will never see the light of day."