How a Pair of Local Guys Wrote a Song for Hollywood

A catchy, Caribbean-inspired reggae tune created in Middletown can be heard on the soundtrack of the movie Thin Ice, which hits Redbox rentals on Tuesday. 

The song was written by guitarist Chris Corley, 36, of Tindall Road in Middletown, who comes from a guitar based pop/rock background. The lyrics come from Jon D'Agostino, 47, of Holmdel, whose music tends to sound a little more "country." 

, or by clicking the YouTube video link on this article. 

"We met a couple years ago and started writing songs together and decided to focus mainly on 'pop' based songs, including reggae," said Corley. The duo has produced a dozen songs currently being pitched to film and TV.

"I had a pop reggae melody, an instrumental song I recorded and produced in my home iMac studio and he really liked it, so he wrote lyrics to it and 'Leave Our Worries' was created."

D'Agostino said the process was no sweat. "Chris played me this wonderful reggae melody and the entire first verse literally came to my mind within minutes," he said. "They came from something I say to my wife all the time: I wish we could just get away from cell phones, emails, Facebook and all that stuff for a few days. We are all prisoners of this technology now and 'Leave our worries" is just a little fantasy."

The song was professionally recorded in a studio then sent to the company in Los Angeles that specializes in music for film and TV. It found a home in "Thin Ice" a movie starring Greg Kinnear, Alan Arkin, Billy Crudup and Lea Thompson.

"Jon and I were thrilled and even more so after we found out it's the opening song of the movie and plays for a while before it fades under Greg Kinnear's dialogue," said Corley. 

"Thin Ice" is available on DVD, and has recently been shown on PayPerView and On Demand. 

To learn more about songwriter/musicial Chris Corley, visit his website. D'Agostino's songs can be heard at his website.