POP MUSIC; Giving Jerseyana A Voice

WHEN Nick Clemente of Oldbridge heard that Weird New Jersey magazine was seeking original songs for a CD about the state's folklore, he knew exactly what to write about: the grave of Mary Ellis. From a raised plot of land in New Brunswick surrounded by concrete walls, she has kept a lonely watch over the Raritan River since 1828.

''It's right in the middle of the parking lot of a movie theater,'' Mr. Clemente said. ''It's really bizarre.''

He turned to an issue of Weird New Jersey for historical background. He read about Mary's romance with a ship's captain who left her to go to sea but promised to return, giving her his favorite horse so she could ride to the edge of the river and watch for him. Mary's lover never returned, and when she died, she was buried on the hilltop overlooking the river so she could continue to wait forever.

''It's a great story, whether or not it's completely true,'' Mr. Clemente said. ''It fits right in with Weird New Jersey.''

He called his bandmates in Autumns Fall, and they convened for a rehearsal. In two hours they wrote ''A Place for Mary (1827),'' and the next day they recorded it. Their song is a tribute to both the Sad Lady of the Raritan and to the site of her grave, a plot of land that has changed hands and purposes many times since her death.

''Mary, the years have changed your world, but you've always held your ground,'' the song goes. ''You weathered storms with angels grace, even with your captain not around.''

''A Place for Mary (1827)'' was immediately accepted by Mark Sceurman of Bloomfield and Mark Moran of West Orange, the proprietors of Weird New Jersey. The CD, ''The Sounds of Weirdness,'' is a compilation of New Jersey pop groups singing about folklore and local history. The CD, which Mr. Sceurman and Mr. Moran describe as an audio companion to the magazine, was released in October. It is available in a number of independent record stores, and they have sold nearly 1,000 copies through the mail ($13 from Weird New Jersey, Post Office Box 1346, Bloomfield, NJ 07003; www.weirdnj.com).

''It's exactly the same concept as the magazine,'' Mr. Moran said. ''It's just a different way to tell a story.''

To solicit songs, Mr. Sceurman and Mr. Moran sent fliers to Weird New Jersey subscribers and advertised in regional music-scene papers like The Aquarian Weekly, published in Montclair, where Mr. Sceurman works as an art director.

They received 60 to 70 submissions. ''Some of them were pretty scary,'' muttered the usually unflappable Mr. Sceurman. He and Mr. Moran selected 17 songs that, like the magazine, embrace New Jersey's untold stories.

They range from snapshots of state oddities like ''Shades of Death Road'' and ''The Ballad of Fred (The Five-Legged Frog)'' to quotidian observations and news reports like ''Driving in New Jersey'' and ''Mystery Bullets Versus the Verona Kings,'' an account of the unexplained outbreak of stray bullets that plagued Verona in 1986. Each is rooted, in a very personal way, to a specific place in the state.

Like the pages of Weird New Jersey, ''The Sounds of Weirdness'' is crowded with accounts of New Jersey's folk tales -- stories that have been passed down through the generations, often with a smirk. Updated for the late 20th century, these urban (and suburban) legends are at once sarcastic and reverent. Some of the songs play with schoolyard yarns like the Jersey Devil; others carefully document the ephemera of local history.

''The World's First Airshow (N. Arlington 1909),'' by a young group called Cosmic Avenger, is a psychedelic pop gem that recounts a proud moment in the history of the group's hometown. But the song's origins betray an attitude about historical research that is somewhat different from that of Mr. Clemente, or of Mr. Sceurman and Mr. Moran.

''On the back of the library card from North Arlington Public Library, it says it's home of the world's first air show,'' said John Pompilio, who sang and played guitar on the song. ''So we just wrote the song about that.''

Other artists on the CD include Electraluxx, a garage band that sings about its hometown, Garfield; Headwound, from Ringwood, singing about that perennial Weird New Jersey feature, Midgetville; R. Stevie Moore, a musical hermit who distributes his music on cassettes through the mail and has produced more than 230 tapes over the years (his ''New Jersey Games'' was recorded more than 20 years ago). There is even an appearance by a genuine rock star, Dennis Diken of the Smithereens, whose ad hoc group the Anthony Wayne Sound sings ''The Larry Doby Highway,'' about the Meadowlands' rechristened Patterson Plank Road.

Mr. Sceurman and Mr. Moran also scattered excerpts from ''The Tube Bar Tapes'' throughout the CD. These legendary prank-call recordings -- containing classics like ''Can I speak to Al Coholic?'' and ''Is this the party to whom I am speaking?'' (borrowed from Lily Tomlin) -- have circulated on bootleg tapes for years.

The location of the Tube Bar and the identities of the callers has been a mystery for two decades, but Weird New Jersey broke the story last May in its 10th issue. The calls were made in 1975 and 1976 to the Tube Bar in Jersey City, which was near the Journal Square train PATH station; the callers, Jim Davidson and John Elmo, now live in Florida, driven out of state not by irate tavern owners, but by high taxes.

''The Sounds of Weirdness'' is more than simply an audio companion to the magazine. It is a compilation of unique voices from around the state, singing about local legends and the kind of history that usually has little chance of being recorded elsewhere.

''We are interested in actual sites, not just urban legends,'' Mr. Sceurman said.

Mr. Moran added: ''Urban legends need to be brought up to date to tell people that right now they live in an incredibly interesting place.''