Claes Dieden was born on 4 June 1942 in
Stockholm, Sweden. He grew up in the neighborhood of
Östermalm, where he'd largely remain for the rest of his life. He became interested in music and radio broadcasting from an early age which eventually landed him a job at national broadcaster
Sveriges Radio in the early 1960s. The band, named Science Poption, also included vocalist Anders Gellner, bassist Björn Stolt and drummer
Ola Brunkert, who would go on to record with
ABBA. The band members' age was considered a major reason to why they did not score a hit with their first few singles, though they finally managed to have a hit in 1967 with the song "Buckingham Palace", adapted from the book
When We Were Very Young. The band broke up during the autumn of 1967 after their final single had failed to become a hit. His first single for the label, a cover of "
Da Doo Ron Ron", became a surprise hit for him, reaching number 1 on radio chart
Tio i Topp and number two on
Kvällstoppen, the sales chart he had hosted only a few months prior. This would come to be his livelihood for the remainder of his life. == Songwriting and studio work ==