The suave, swivel-hipped singer continues to reinvent himself. The comeback king will play tonight in Thousand Oaks.

Like few other show biz icons, Tom Jones, who plays the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza tonight, has an uncanny way of surfacing and resurfacing. Just when you’d written him off as a Las Vegas-bound, kitsch ‘n’ sex symbol from some dusty corner of pop history, he leaps and slithers back into view.

The last time some of us caught sight of Jones was, of all places, at the Troubador in Los Angeles a year and a half ago. It was during the “All Virgos Are Mad” festival of bands on the cult label 4AD. Many of the bands, such as Red House Painters, specialize in elegant, minimalist gloom. Late in the show, the crowd couldn’t keep from going wild when Jones strode onstage to join the funk-driven Wolfgang Press for a rousing, wailing cameo on the the song “Show Me.”

Suddenly, in 1994, there was Jones, back in the swing of pop music for all ages, with a surprisingly good, funk-fortified comeback album, “The Lead and How to Swing It.” The title is a phrase that Jones borrowed from his Welsh coal-miner father, but, of course, can be read as innuendo if you’re so inclined. Sex is never far from the surface in Jones’ line of work.

There’s Jones on the cover, in tight powder blue slacks and a white fishnet sleeveless T-shirt, apparently in the throes of musical ecstasy, flanked by a lean woman in a hard hat and silver bikini. On an inside photo, Jones dons a shiny red leather get-up that makes him look like something between a race car driver and Safety Man. Such gaudiness--you’ve gotta love it, and only Tom Jones could get away with it.

Working with various producers, including Trevor Horn (“If I Only Knew”), Teddy Riley and Jeff Lyne (“Lift Me Up,” a personal favorite), Jones wails seamlessly over a series of crisp, crunchy pop-soul tunes. Tori Amos, another singer who’s not afraid to belt it out, joins in on “I Wanna Get Back With You.” It’s an album you can safely put on at a party without generational embarrassment.

Born in 1940 in Pontypridd, Wales, Thomas Jones Woodward trimmed his name in the mid-’60s, after the film “Tom Jones” came out. Jones had a rough youth, replete with chemical over-indulgence, and married at 17. Tom and Melinda Jones have been married for nearly 40 years, and have produced children now involved in their father’s career. So much for his image as a swinging Lothario.

Jones meteoric rise was launched in 1964 by “It’s Not Unusual,” the smash single that remains his signature tune. There have been many hits since then, among them “What’s New Pussycat?,” “She’s a Lady,” and “Daughter of Darkness,” but by the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, Jones had slipped out of favor with the rock scene. He seemed counter to the counterculture, slouching toward Caesars Palace.

In 1988, the techno group Art of Noise got Jones to sing on a remake of Prince’s “Kiss.” The success of that song and video began the process of the rehipifying of Jones.

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Between his swaggering stage gyrations, physique-friendly wardrobe and his burly, vibrato-seized notes, Jones personifies a certain model of old school suavity that would seem at odds with the hangdog attitude of the rap/grunge years. But, once you scrape away the cultural preconceptions by which pop artists are often divided into camps--the hip versus the unhip--it’s hard to deny that Jones has what it takes to make a pop culture legend. Take away the trappings and you have a singer of raw power and charisma, who deserves to be considered alongside Van Morrison and Joe Cocker as supreme white soul men in the UK.

If there’s a lesson to be learned from the continuing saga of Tom Jones, it has to do with crashing barriers and readdressing the pop culture machinery. He’s a pop singer in the old tradition, who interprets, with gusto, the songs of others. He entertains the troops more than he exorcises personal demons, practicing a sturdy work ethic, which may be traceable to his coal-miner father.

It’s just that Jones’ work has to do with simple songs and the aura of sexual electricity. In other words: Pop Music with a capital P.

DETAILS

* WHAT: Tom Jones.

* WHEN: 7:30 p.m.

* WHERE: Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, 2100 Thousand Oaks Blvd. in Thousand Oaks.

* HOW MUCH: Tickets are $30-$50.

* CALL: 449-ARTS (449-2787).