Feyne was born in
New York City, the youngest son of immigrants Solomon and Sarah Feinstein. Feyne was based at the
Brill Building in New York, writing songs for Lewis Music Publishers, one of the few companies which published "
race music", the term for songs created by
black artists. In 1939,
Erskine Hawkins and his band introduced "
Tuxedo Junction" at the
Savoy Ballroom, in New York, which was an immediate hit. When it was decided to add words to the music, the publisher asked several different lyricists to propose words for the tune. Feyne met Hawkins and asked what the name referred to. It was named for a whistle stop spot on the "
Chitlin' Circuit" in
Alabama. When he learned the meaning of the song, the lyrics came easily, and his were selected. Glenn Miller recorded the most successful version, reaching #1 on the Billboard charts in 1940, selling 115,000 in the first week of release. The song was also recorded by the Andrews Sisters, Duke Ellington,
Jan Savitt, and other orchestras. Later it became the theme song of The Manhattan Transfer, who met Feyne in 1978. Feyne played the original piano solo for them from the Miller Band and they changed their arrangement to match the original. They maintained a close friendship for the last twenty years of Feyne's life. Feyne continued to write lyrics for black composers such as Erskine Hawkins, Bill Johnson,
Dud Bascomb, Bobby Plater,
Tiny Bradshaw, and Edward Johnson. "Dolimite" by the Hawkins band on the
Bluebird label was recorded by
Jimmy Dorsey for
Decca (1940). Feyne became a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (
ASCAP) in 1940. He used the nom de plume "Robert B. Wright" when he penned the lyrics for "After Hours", a haunting blues piece composed by
Avery Parrish. "
Jersey Bounce" followed soon after. He wrote the lyrics to the Glenn Miller #3
Billboard chart hit "
I Dreamt I Dwelt in Harlem" in 1941, with music by
Jerry Gray. He wrote with many other composers, sang on the radio, and was a writer-producer of the series "Rhythm School of the Air". Drafted in
World War II, while in training at
Fort Pickett in Virginia, Buddy continued to write songs and sang his tune "Your Soldier Boy" on Armed Forces Radio, recorded on the base. He served in the Pacific in the
77th Infantry Division and was awarded the
Bronze Star Medal Buddy Feyne died in
Canoga Park, Los Angeles in 1998, at the age of 86. ==Hit compositions==