People

By Guy D. Garcia

The benefit concert for 350 workers who are losing their jobs at the 3M plant in Freehold, N.J., promised ten bands for $5. But everyone got more than they bargained for when Bruce Springsteen and members of his E Street Band made a surprise appearance at the Stone Pony, the Asbury Park club where the Boss played in early days. "Remember what we're doing this for," Springsteen told the stunned audience of 500, before breaking into My Hometown, a song about a textile-plant closing in Freehold. Said Springsteen, who was born there and lives in nearby Rumson: "The marriage between a company and a community is a special thing. The 3M company: it's their money and it's their plant, but it's the 3M workers' jobs."