Where art thou Sammy Hagar?

In January of 2009, as part of a poorly thought through publicity stunt for my book PLANET OF BEER, I began an online campaign to get hold of rock star Sammy Hagar. The idea was to get Sammy to somehow endorse PLANET OF BEER, as a dwarfish, be-hatted, cigar-smoking version of the Red Rocker appears within its pages.

I figured Sammy wouldn’t mind the extra publicity; he had just released a new album, and he was starting out on a world tour or something. I could imagine the headlines (“RED ROCKER ENDORSES BOOK OF BAFFLINGLY WEIRD COMIC STRIPS, PLAYS TO THOUSANDS IN MIAMI”) in Entertainment sections (both print and online), accompanied by a photo of Sammy and me shaking hands and sharing a laugh.

Boy, was I ever naïve! Because after about a month or so of this nonsense, I was asked to discontinue my Sammy Hagar-related efforts. Arcane and incomprehensible legal reasons were cited, as there was apparently some confusion between the real-world Sammy Hagar and my own comic strip version of “Sammy Hagar.” It’s useless to go into detail here, and I suppose there’s a possibility I’ll get sued if I do, so I won’t.

Anyway, officially, I’ve abandoned my efforts. But unofficially (“on the DL,” as many people say), I still want this Sammy Hagar thing to happen. Let’s just say the thought has not yet left my head.

So, this: If you are reading this, and you happen to know Sammy Hagar in some capacity (or if you know someone who knows him, etc.), try to bring his attention to this particular thought I am thinking. You know the one. The one I just mentioned. (I have no problem believing that Sammy is an amazingly effective mind-reader.)

And that’s it! Then it’s all in Sammy’s hands.

And I’m sure Sammy and I can figure things out from there.

Right, Sammy?

Right…?

Brian Sendelbach

P.S. Sammy…how about a photo of yourself holding a copy of PLANET OF BEER and giving the thumbs up? Does that work for you? (I’ll supply the book…if you can supply the thumbs!)