CSUN Radio Show Revives Classics

Tell Bobb Lynes and Barbara Sunday that they’re throwbacks to another time and they’d probably thank you for the compliment.

Lynes and Sunday, whose real name is Barbara Watkins, both of South Pasadena, are hosts of the longest-running show in Los Angeles airing old-time radio classics.

Drawing from their collection of more than 36,000 radio programs, the duo’s program, “Don’t Touch That Dial,” features such vintage shows as “The Aldrich Family” and “Inner Sanctum” from noon to 3 p.m. every Sunday from KCSN-FM (88.5), the campus radio station at Cal State Northridge.

Watkins said she grew up in front of the radio, reveling in the smooth voices of radio detectives, while some of her friends were glued to their television sets.

“My father never wanted a TV in our house, so that was my only form of entertainment,” she said. “I presided over the death of all these shows as they went off the air one by one.”

In the 1960s, just as Watkins began to wonder what happened to the shows from the ‘30s, ‘40s and ‘50s, others were rediscovering them as well.

In 1974, at the height of that resurgence, “Don’t Touch That Dial” was born at KCSN. Rene Engel, KCSN general manager, said the show is one of the top three being aired on the station. He said the appeal of these old shows is that they had an immediacy not usually found today.

“In that era, radio was done live, and there’s something very exciting about that,” he said. “It seems to be experiencing a renaissance, though it’s always been a presence in radio in Los Angeles.”

Lynes said the interest in such classic radio shows as “Richard Diamond, Private Detective” and “The Great Gildersleeve” is not just nostalgia anymore.

People in their 30s and even younger are discovering this simple yet creative form of entertainment, Lynes said.

“These shows had wonderful character development,” he said. “The writing they were able to do, they set the scene, and you can see it in your mind. Imagination is endless in a radio show.”