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From then he went on to Caesar's Palace, where Tom's shows were traditionally a knicker-hurling frenzy of raw sexual tension and good-time entertainment.

The Tom Jones Show, broadcast from February 1969, was a huge television success, for which he was paid $9 million per series by Lew Grade. Before the show's end in 1971, Tom appeared with stars including Johnny Cash, The Bee Gees, Janis Joplin and The Moody Blues.

However, just as things were all going smoothly, a couple of spanners hit the works. First of all, Tom's former managers Godfrey and Glastonbury took him to court to recoup money they said was entitled to them. Then, The Senators finally disbanded, mainly due to Tom's TV and Las Vegas appearances - where they weren't needed.

Resentful of the high taxes he was forced to pay in Britain, Tom spent much of the 1970s in America as a tax-avoidance scheme. He, along with Gordon Mills and Englebert Humperdinck, set up a record label, MAM.

Then, in 1974, Tom finally moved to America, buying the mansion formerly belonging to Dean Martin. Based in Los Angeles' Bel Air, it cost the singer $1 million.

With furniture shipped over from Britain, and a Green Card granting American citizenship, many thought Tom had turned his back on the green, green grass of home. "I love Britain and I love living there," he said. "It's home. But I've been forced into exile and I don't like it one little bit."

The 1970s saw Tom's popularity levelling off somewhat. Indeed, he was seen by many as an old warhorse, a man out of time. But the hits kept on coming: Daughter Of Darkness, She's A Lady, Till and The New Mexican Puppeteer were all hits in the UK, although he did release a number of misses as well.

Then, in 1977 two significant things happened. Firstly, Tom's good friend and mentor Elvis Presley died. And in April Tom released his single Say You'll Stay Until Tomorrow. Not the most remarkable release, but it was the last time Tom would trouble the singles chart for the next 10 years.