THE VAULTS / CD REISSUES : A Mood Only ‘70s TV Themes Could Set : VARIOUS ARTISTS, “Tube Tunes, Volume One --The ‘70s”, <i> Rhino</i> ***

When my wife and I have friends over, we try to put on music that is somewhat classy and tailor it to the genre favored by the guests. That means, say, Al Green or Otis Redding for soul fans, U2 or R.E.M. for contemporary-rock fans and so forth. There are times, however, when nothing will work except something zany, which is where “Tube Tunes” fits in.

Rhino Records, the leader in imaginative reissues in the CD era, has put together in one volume 16 songs identified with TV shows from the ‘70s, and every track will most likely lead to a smile or double-take from your guests.

The music salutes everyone from Mary Tyler Moore (Sonny Curtis’ “Love Is All Around”) to the Bunkers (Carroll O’Connor and Jean Stapleton’s “Those Were the Days”).

Volume Two serves up tunes from the ‘70s and ‘80s (“Welcome Back, Kotter,” “B.J. and the Bear”), while Volume Three offers more of the ‘80s (“Family Ties,” “Cheers”).

You’d have to be planning a l-o-n-g party to need all three volumes, but any one disc should serve nicely as a mood setter.

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (e x cellent).