The Motley Crew

Singing shanties and songs of the sea out of Brightlingsea, Essex

Long, long ago, a group of like minded chaps hit on the idea of singing sea shanties for fun. Despite it being a late night at the yacht club, most of us remembered the idea the day after and thus The Motley Crew was born.

From there we’ve gone on to sing at fetes, smack and barge matches, regattas, dinners, weddings, parties, shop openings and numerous other events. Highlights include performing at the London Marathon, the Cutty Sark, the Harwich International Shanty Festival and the Colchester Oyster Feast. We get together at Christmas to sing traditional wassail carols, too.

We've supported lots of charities over the years, but our main charity is the RNLI (as most of us sail, we figure it's a good investment) and we've raised thousands of pounds for this worthy cause. 

We don’t take ourselves too seriously. Audiences appreciate our robust, light-hearted style and so long as we all enjoy ourselves and the RNLI gets a few more well-deserved pennies out of our efforts, that’s all that matters.
If you'd like us to sing at your event, please drop us a line.

CONTACT US

Meet the crew

THE SCREECHERS
Otherwise known as the tenors, the screechers claim to reach impossibly high notes without artificial aids.
Bob
Pete
Colin
Chris
THE TUNESMITHS
The tunes sing the bits everybody knows and think everyone else in the crew is just showing off.
John
David D
Iain
Mike
Pencil Bob
Rob
Richard
THE GROWLERS
The bass section labours down in the engine room, occasionally rattling windows and scaring dogs. 
David B
Richard
Robin

Come and see us

We'll be performing at the following events:

Brightlingsea Late Night Shopping
01/12/2023
Various around Brightlingsea

We'll be out and about around town with some shanties and festive tunes from around 6pm, ending with a singalong at the Railway Tavern

Colne Yacht Club Christmas Lights Switch-On
03/12/2023
Colne Yacht Club, Brightlingsea

Join us for some festive tunes as the lights are switched on around the Hard

Lavenham Church
09/12/2023
Lavenham Church

Our first gig for events company OEM Live. A matinee, time & tickets tbc.

Brightlingsea Christmas Tree Festival
10/12/2023
All Saints' Church

We'll be singing from the balcony at 3pm.

Festive Frolic, Wivenhoe
16/12/2023
Black Buoy, Wivenhoe

We'll be performing at this charity event – which collects toys for deprived children – at around 8pm. There may be wassails!

St Osyth WI
08/04/2024
St Osyth Village Hall

Private event for the doughty ladies of St Osyth

Clacton Arts & Literary Society AGM
15/04/2024
Princes Theatre, Clacton

Our first performance for this prestigious society – and our first on the big stage at the Princes Theatre!

Felixstowe Shanty Café
04/05/2024
Levington Marina, Suffolk

We'll be back with our friends the Felix Stowaways and other crews for an afternoon of shanties and catching up.

Get that Jab & Go

When the NHS approached the The Motley Crew in March 2021 to come up with a sea shanty to promote Covid-19 vaccinations, we put our thinking caps on and came up with Just Get That Jab and Go

Sung to the tune of the Wellerman, with arrangement by our own Chris Bloor and lyrics by Motley SWAG (shanty wives and girlfriends) Melanie Bridle, it was recorded and mastered by Ray Hayden of Opaz Multimedia.

Our tune, set to a video recorded in various locations around North Essex and Suffolk – including our home town of Brightlingsea – gained nationwide press, radio and TV coverage, including two live breakfast tv appearances on the same morning. A video of our appearance on BBC Breakfast below) is below.



01 June 2021

Press Release

NHS’s first-ever sea shanty created to encourage COVID-19 vaccination

What’s believed to be the first-ever sea shanty in the world written to encourage people to take up the offer of a COVID-19 vaccination has been created by the well-known East Anglian group The Motley Crew.

Just Get That Jab And Go is written and performed by the 13-strong Brightlingsea-based shanty crew and was done in partnership with the Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care System (ICS), which is responsible for the highly-successful local vaccination programme.

The launch of the song comes as the national programme has opened up vaccination appointments to people aged 30 and over.

With the refrain “Keep the community safe from harm, just get that jab and go”, the shanty is sung to the tune of Wellerman, the shanty that achieved TikTok fame and went to No 1 in the charts earlier this year. It even manages to integrate the local vaccine website address into one verse.

David Bridle, the Motley Crew’s Bosun, said: “We’ve all had the jab and were delighted to lend our voices to such an important campaign.

“After a year when we’ve mostly met on Zoom, we’re looking forward to adding it to our live shows when we’re able to perform again soon.”

Brightlingsea-based record producer Ray Hayden, of Opaz Multimedia mastered the recording and also gave his time for free. “Ray did an amazing job for us,” said David, “Having a professional involved was fantastic – we’d never have sounded so good without him.”

Simon Morgan, ICS head of communications, and who had the original idea for this unusual project, said: “Over the last couple of years the sea shanty has enjoyed a much-deserved boost in popularity, which got us thinking that having our own sea shanty composition to boost vaccination uptake, especially among younger audiences, would be a great idea.

“Our system is extremely grateful to members of the Motley Crew who have done an incredible job to reinforce the message of getting a vaccination when invited to do so.”

The group created the song in partnership with the ICS who accepted no payment for the work.

Dr Ed Garratt, Executive Lead for the Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care System, said: “Our teams of staff and volunteers are doing a great job of inviting people back for their second doses, which are really important to give maximum protection from the virus; more than one third of adults have had both doses.

“So if you receive an invitation, whether for your first or second dose, please do act on it as soon as possible.

“We are proud of our success to-date and thanks to so many people, particularly the incredible efforts of the volunteers and staff who have contributed so much.”

Motleys on the BBC

In Action

Testimonials

  • I was delighted when informed of the consistent fundraising the Motley Crew has done to raise vital funds for the RNLI. Thank you for your loyalty in helping the RNLI to continue to save lives at sea. 

    Jon Knight

    Head of Community Engagement, RNLI
  • Speaking with our staff, they felt that the shanties really brought the ship to life. It goes without saying that you are welcome to come back and perform again in the future

    Aaron Hewett

    General Manager, Cutty Sark
  • I would just like to write to say thank you so much for organising a fundraising event for our Raise the Roof appeal. It is really touching when someone organises an independent event of their own volition, especially one that is so different.

    Lia Smith

    Secretary, Porridge & Pens
  • Just to say thank you to you and the ‘Crew’ for making our WI Centenary Evening such fun. Without exception every one said how much they had enjoyed the evening, such a great atmosphere!

    Jo Barnes

    Weeley WI
  • I’ve just paid good money for a CD of yours , and I want you to know that I’m appalled. I’m appalled that you haven’t yet got a golden disc – it’s absolutely brilliant! I do so love to hear you sing and I applaud your objective

    Mike Fletcher

On Tour

Contact Us

If you'd like us to perform for your event, please drop us a line using the contact form. Be sure to say what the event is, who it's for and give a date, time and location.
We'll get back to you as soon as we can. 

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© The Motley Crew 2023
Website by  Big Red Web Design | Illustrations by Pencil Bob Hollis | Compilation video mastered by Richard Harvey | Hero image by Jon Sturdy.
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