I need a microcontroller with through-hole pins

Lots to chose from. Even a free assembler and debugger.

don

Google "PICAXE" By far the easiest way.

Dave.

Practically all of the 8-bit PICs (10,12,16,18 series) are available in DIP packages, and a fair number of the 16-bit (24,30,33)

Hmm; searching on Farnell ... I get 224 results for the various 8-bit series, 12 for the PIC24 and 37 for the PIC30/33. Those are all flash-based with ADC.

For the various Atmel chips with the same requirements (DIP, ADC, flash), I see 57 results.

So there's no shortage of options. Choosing the right part is a matter of the amount of RAM/ROM, clock speed, and which peripherals you need.

There are a number of PIC controllers from 8 pin DIP to 40 pin DIP available..

The Texas Instruments MSP430F2013 would be my favorite, in stock at Digikey:

Or check page 3, you can the development system for $20 and another three headers for $10 (with provisions to solder non-SMT board headers into these):

As I like to say, the good old days are right now :-)