Meet the New Boss--leaves from Pete Townshend's Diary

"7 July

Michael Moore has been making some claims-- mentioning me by name - which I believe distort the truth.

He says--among other things--that I refused to allow him to use my song WON'T GET FOOLED AGAIN in his latest film, because I support the war, and that at the last minute I recanted, but he turned me down. I have never hidden the fact that at the beginning of the war in Iraq I was a supporter. But now, like millions of others, I am less sure we did the right thing.

When first approached I knew nothing about the content of his film FAHRENHEIT 911. My publisher informed me they had already refused the use of my song in principle because MIRAMAX the producers offered well below what the song normally commands for use in a movie. They asked me if I wanted to ask for more money, I told them no.

23 May

The trip has been a good one. We played for the CBS presentation of their forthcoming season and introduced the song they are going to use for their CSI New York series - 'Baba O Riley'

Coincidentally Hewlett Packard have just started to use an original version of the backing music for the same song for their great new TV commercial. My brother Simon produced it from my original home demo recording.

In a very real way the use of Who music in this manner keeps it alive, and brings it to a new audience in an era when our music would otherwise never be heard on the radio or TV. "