French Composer Louis Gaste Dies

Composer Louis Gaste, who wrote the song that was plagiarized as the hit “Feelings,” died at his home of cancer Sunday, his entourage said. He was 88.

He also wrote the song known in English as “How Much is that Doggy in the Window?”

Gaste “made French music shine around the world,” said Paris Mayor Jacques Chirac. He “wrote some of the most brilliant pages of French chanson” said former Culture Minister Jack lang.

In 1956, Gaste co-wrote “Pour Toi (For You)” with his wife, singer-actress Line Renaud. The song went nowhere on the charts. But in 1975, Morris Albert adapted it as “Feelings” and it became a staple of lounge-style crooners.

Gaste sued the Brazilian singer-composer over the song and won $500,000 in damages in a U.S. court in 1987.