A Pakistani fishmonger Mohammad Shahid Nazir's catchy tune to hook in more customers to his Queen's Market, Upton Park, east London's fish stand landed him to sign a record deal with Warner Music for his unique style of selling fish by singing. "Come on ladies, come on ladies, have a, have a look, one pound fish. Very very good, very very cheap, one pound fish," goes his song.
Shahid Nazir, who was born in Pattoki, near Lahore in 1981, moved to Britain with the hope of making enough money to send to his wife and four children in Pakistan. On his first day at the fish stall, his boss told him to shout to customers to get their attention. He said he did not like shouting, and so made up a song.
Shahid Nazir became an Internet sensation, after a video posted of him singing "One Pound Fish" went viral, garnering almost 4.2 million views and thousands of fans. The video has had more than a million views in two days and has led to fan sites on Facebook.
One of the sites was set up by Colin Miller, a freelance web designer who first posted the video of Nazir to YouTube. Miller wrote: This bloke is a legend. One Pound Fish, market stall trader. He certainly entertains the good folk of East London with his unique song.
The reality show 'The X Factor' has been producing the top holiday song in the UK. Nazir failed to make it past the first round of the British version of the reality show when he auditioned. Despite his failure, he was approached by executives from Warner Music, who believed that his song has "Psy-like potential," alluding to the Korean music sensation whose "Gangnam Style" has the most views on YouTube.
Nazir told the BBC that he was an aspiring singer as a child and grew up singing Bollywood and Punjabi songs. When he moved from the "everything for a pound" stall to selling fish, he soon came up with a catchy tune to get people’s attention, with little idea of how successful he would be.
Nazir said: "People have come from Australia, the US, Canada and all over Europe. They don't come here to work or shop they come for One Pound Fish Man."
Nazir arrived in the United Kingdom on a student visa, but soon left his studies to work as a fishmonger. In December 2012, it was revealed that he had been ordered by the Home Office to leave the country as his visa had expired. However his management said he would return to the UK to promote his musical career with a new entry visa.
On April 12, 2013 Nazir joined the Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N) when he met Mian Nawaz Sharif and Mian Shahbaz Sharif at Raiwind. His mother, wife and children are still living in Pattoki.
