Introducing....

G8 Funk!

With

Bill Clinton on sax and lead vocals

Bill has dabbled with support for debt relief in the past but now he's going for a full-blown solo career. In September he announced that the US would cancel 100% of the debt owed to it by the world's poorest nations, on condition that the money is spent on basic human needs. But he's got to finish the gig by the year 2000 as well as persuade his record label (Congress) to back him, and they haven't always kept up with his tune.

The United States is owed

• $6 billion by the 41 Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPCs)
• $12.5 billion by the Jubilee 2000 52 countries
• Aid debt makes up 46 per cent of these debts.
  

Tony Blair on guitar

Tony is one of the founder members of the band and was lead vocalist until recently when Bill took over. He has been making a lot of most noise about debt, putting some money in and persuading the others to go with his ideas. But Tony's still singing the IMF's HIPC tune and hasn't realised it's time for a new song with a faster, deeper beat.

The United Kingdom is owed

• $2.7 billion by the 41 Heavily Indebted Poor Countries
• $8.4 billion by the Jubilee 2000 52 countries
• Aid debt makes up only 4 per cent of these debts.
  

Gerhard Schröder on bass

The rest of the band were pleased when Gerhard joined them because their old bass player, Helmut, just refused to keep in time. Gerhard has been much better at providing a good solid bass beat to support the vocalists. But he's never done a solo and he tends to act like the gig in Cologne in June this year was the pinnacle of the band's career, never to be surpassed.

Germany is owed

• $6.1 billion by the 41 Heavily Indebted Poor Countries
• $11.8 billion by the Jubilee 2000 52 countries
• Aid debt makes up 37 per cent of these debts.
  

Keizo Obuchi on triangle

Keizo plays a mean triangle but the band sometimes find that he just won't get into the rhythm. He used to work fine with Helmut but now Gerhard's taken over bass he's a bit out on a limb, as he tends to see debt differently from the others – you can't just write it off just like that. He'll be stepping out of the shadows next July when he leads the band into their next big concert in Okinawa – maybe having the spotlight on him will help his true sense of the beat shine through!

Japan is owed

• $10.5 billion by the 41 Heavily Indebted Poor Countries
• $31.4 billion by the Jubilee 2000 52 countries
• Aid debt makes up 69 per cent of these debts.
  

Boris Yeltsin on scratch

Boris is in a funny old position. He's part of the band but sometimes they prefer to play without him – and he doesn't often get to do vocals where debt is concerned. But the band do make sure he gets the financial support he needs – they know if he had to leave the whole band would probably fall to pieces sooner or later.

and on backing vocals

Jean Chrétien

Canada is owed

• $744 million by the 41 Heavily Indebted Poor Countries
• $1.5 billion by the Jubilee 2000 52 countries
• Aid debt makes up only 4 per cent of these debts.

Jacques Chirac

France is owed

• $11.7 billion by the 41 Heavily Indebted Poor Countries
• $21.4 billion by the Jubilee 2000 52 countries
• Aid debt makes up 32 per cent of these debts.

Massimo d'Alema

Italy is owed

• $4.3 billion by the 41 Heavily Indebted Poor Countries
• $6.6 billion by the Jubilee 2000 52 countries
• Aid debt makes up 31 per cent of these debts.