BERRY GOOD OR BERRY BAD?

Chuck Berry owes New Jersey.

Not money or a favor of some sort -- just a quality performance.

Last September, Berry headlined a show at Commerce Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, then 79, was off his game, struggling on most every song, botching his trademark chunky guitar solos and chugging rhythm parts.

Berry, now 80, has a chance to redeem himself when he performs Saturday at the Union County MusicFest in Cranford’s Nomahegan Park.

Also on the bill are The Smithereens, Fountains of Wayne, Apples in Stereo and Live, among others.

The action is scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. Visit www.ucmusicfest.com for more information.

IN THE HOLIDAY SPIRIT

Speaking of The Smithereens, the Jersey-bred band will release Christmas With The Smithereens via Koch Records on Oct. 9.

As singer Pat DiNizio describes it, the album "channels the ghost of Christmas past, and in the process, also pays tribute to and reinvents some of our absolute all-time favorite rock 'n' roll Christmas records."

He adds, "I don't think it has been done quite this way before, and hopefully it's an album you wouldn't mind listening to the other 11 months of the year."

In addition to covers of songs made famous by Chuck Berry and The Ramones, among others, Christmas With The Smithereens also includes original material: guitarist Jim Babjak's "Waking Up on Christmas Morning" and drummer Dennis Diken's "Christmas (I Remember)."