Louis Gaste; Prolific Songwriter’s Tune Plagiarized as ‘Feelings’

Louis Gaste, 88, who wrote the song that was plagiarized as the hit “Feelings.” Gaste also wrote the whimsical “How Much Is That Doggy in the Window?” In 1956, with his singer-actress wife, Line Renaud, Gaste co-wrote “Pour Toi (For You)” which went nowhere on the charts. In 1975, Morris Albert adapted the song 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. A former guitarist, Gaste wrote more than a thousand songs during his career. On Jan. 8 in Paris of cancer.