Scoubidou is the title of a French song, translated from the American "Apples, Peaches and Cherries" composed by

Abel Meeropol Abel Meeropol (February 10, 1903 – October 29, 1986)Baker, Nancy Kovaleff, "Abel Meeropol (a.k.a. Lewis Allan): Political Commentator and Social Conscience," '' American Music'' 20/1 (2002), pp. 25–79, ; see especially note 3. was an Ameri ...

which was a hit when recorded by

Peggy Lee Norma Deloris Egstrom (May 26, 1920 – January 21, 2002), known professionally as Peggy Lee, was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, and actress whose career spanned seven decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local r ...

in the United States. The song was originally written and recorded in English. The French version was sung by

Sacha Distel Alexandre "Sacha" Distel (29 January 1933 – 22 July 2004) was a French musician and singer who had hits with a cover version of "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" in 1970, which reached No 10 in the UK Charts, " Scoubidou", and " The Good Lif ...

, and it was his first hit song, becoming number one in France. Abel Meeropol filed a copyright infringement suit against Distel, as originally he did not arrange for payment of royalties to the songwriter. After the suit was settled, royalties from the French version of the song continued to provide income to

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...

and

Robert Meeropol Robert Meeropol (born May 14, 1947 as Robert Rosenberg) is an American anthropologist. He is the younger son of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. Meeropol was born in New York City. His father Julius was an electrical engineer and a member of the Com ...

, the adopted sons of Meeropol and his wife Anne. The boys were the orphaned sons of

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg Julius Rosenberg (May 12, 1918 – June 19, 1953) and Ethel Rosenberg (born Greenglass; September 28, 1915 – June 19, 1953) were an American married couple who were convicted of First Chief Directorate, spying for the Soviet Union, including ...

, Americans who were convicted and executed for treason as spies for the Soviet Union. The Distel lyrics that correspond to the English title are "des pommes, des poires, et des Scoubidous", or "apples, pears, and scoubidous". Coined for the song, the term

scoubidou Scoubidou (Craftlace, scoobies, lanyard, gimp, or boondoggle) is material used in knotting craft. It originated in France, where it became a fad in the late 1950s and has remained popular. It is named after the 1958 Scoubidou (song), song of the ...

was soon applied to a form of knotted handicraft.

References

French pop songs 1958 songs Copyright infringement Songs involved in plagiarism controversies {{1950s-song-stub