Paranoimia

"Paranoimia" is a song by the English avant-garde synth-pop group Art of Noise, released in April 1986 by China Records from their second studio album, In Visible Silence (1986). A better-known version was released as a single, featuring the fictional character Max Headroom (played by the American-Canadian actor Matt Frewer) on vocals. This version was first included on the 1986 album Re-Works of Art of Noise.

B-side"Why Me?"

ReleasedApril 1986

Length

• 4:46 (album version)
• 3:18 (single version)
• 6:42 (extended version)

LabelChina

Quick facts from the album In Visible Silence (original version) and Re-Works of Art of Noise (single version), B-side ...

"Paranoimia"
Single by Art of Noise featuring Max Headroom
from the album In Visible Silence (original version) and Re-Works of Art of Noise (single version)
B-side	"Why Me?"
Released	April 1986
Length	4:46 (album version) 3:18 (single version) 6:42 (extended version)
Label	China
Songwriters	Anne Dudley Gary Langan J. J. Jeczalik
Producers	Anne Dudley Gary Langan J. J. Jeczalik
Art of Noise singles chronology
"Peter Gunn" (1986) "Paranoimia" (1986) "Legacy" (1986)
Music video
"Paranoimia" on YouTube

Close

The 7-inch single features a monologue about Max Headroom being scared and unable to sleep (hence "Paranoimia", a portmanteau of "paranoia" and "insomnia"). The 12-inch has a completely different vocal with Headroom as a master of ceremonies, talking about the music and making a pun-laden introduction of the alleged band members: English actor Peter O'Toole on trumpet (the absence of a trumpet in the song explained by O'Toole, notorious at one time for his drinking, "just having a rest between bars"), Czech-American tennis player Martina Navratilova on bassline (baseline), American singer Cher on mic ("Are you OK, Mike?"), and the Pope on drums.