Released April 1986 Genre Synthpop, spoken word | Recorded 1986 Label China Records | |
Format 7", 12", Shaped picture disc Length 4:46 (album version)
3:18 (single version)
6:42 (extended version) | ||
"Paranoimia" is a song by English synthpop group Art of Noise released in 1986, from their album In Visible Silence.
The song's better-known version was a version released as a single, featuring television character Max Headroom on vocals. This version was first featured on the 1986 album Re-Works of Art of Noise. The 7" single features a monologue about Max Headroom being scared and unable to sleep (hence "Paranoimia", a portmanteau of "paranoia" and "insomnia"). The 12" has a completely different vocal with Headroom as a master of ceremonies, talking about the music and introducing the band (which he claims comprises Peter O'Toole, Martina Navratilova, Cher and the Pope).
The 12" single was also available on a one-sided cassette tape with the following track listing:
- Paranoimia - 6:40
- Paranoimia - 3:18
- Why Me? - 2:56
- A Nation Rejects - 6:40
Some later issues of the CD "In Visible Silence", most notably the US version, include this single version in place of the original version, which did not include the Max Headroom vocals.