Hometown anthem Drop Me Off in Rotherham gets a makeover for 2022

LEE McMahon is clearly not a man for turning.

When we met last month for a feature for Chase magazine, the former Tivoli singer revealed he was planning to rework the band’s much-loved hometown anthem, Drop Me Off in Rotherham.

The charming salute acknowledges the town’s careworn state — OK, it calls Rotherham a “s***hole” — but McMahon adds “it’s my home”.

More than a decade on, McMahon conceded he’d “not been comfortable for a long time” with that tag — and pledged to do a rewrite.

Isn’t that part of the charm of the song, I argued, that the town’s shortcomings are recognised while the writer’s affection is evident?

Clearly, McMahon was not to be influenced, so Drop Me Off... has had a 2022 makeover.

The singer, now releasing music solo as LPMC, said the rewriting and re-recording process had “absolutely consumed me” over the past three months.

He added: “I thought it was going to easy but it turned into being one of the hardest tracks I’ve ever recorded, mainly due to trying to pay respect to the original but having to be brutal in severing some emotional ties to it —which I didn’t realise existed in me until we were in the belly of the recordings.”

The end result is more polished musically than the Tivoli original while retaining its singalong spirit and remaining unmistakably McMahon.

For completists, a remastered version of the original song will be available as a B-side.

As for the “s***hole” decision, McMahon admits it was “the hardest decision of the rewrite” but insists: “This version just needed to say something different 14 years later.”

All together now...

“So when I’m old or if I die/Or got no money to get me by

“If troubled times have come and all I need is love/Do me a favour drop me off in Rotherham.”

The new Drop Me Off... is out today (Friday 9th) from https://www.lpmcmusic.com.

It will be available as a free stream and free download, but Lee is asking listeners to make a donation which will be passed on to Rotherham Hospice.

The Roadhouse Bar in Stag is creating a beer called “Drop Me Off In Rotherham” to support the release and 10p per pint sold will go to Rotherham Hospice.

Drop Me Off... will be out on streaming services Spotify and Apple Music on December 16.