Jon no to the book. I will have to buy it myself, I ended up with a Bob Mortimer bók at Christmas. I cannot remember much of the podcast but enjoyed it. Sense Of Guilt's poorly chosen title and the story sticks in my mind.
It seems mad how good the material JK, Echo and arguably the Teardrops produced so quickly. Other groups whilst góod went through a maturing process, The Fall and Joy Division for example.
Re being late to the party, there was so much good music coming out in 81 by a huge range of bands it was easy to miss stuff. It was easier for me because of being so demanding I moved on from perfectly good bands so quickly. Echo after 2 LPs, Teardrops after none. I agonised over whether to buy The Only Fun In Town on value grounds, 30 mins of music, with a few singles included.