Basically as a youngster in the UK if you wanted a guitar or bass, you bought a kay. It was all there was, it was all you could afford, back when there was a lot less disposable income around.
Noone bought a kay because they wanted a kay, that was the choice. It was tat in every sense of the word, but many people learned to play on tat and it brings back great memories. I had a Kay strat, weighed as much as a small planet. I loved it, I modded it I learned everything on it. However, my love of it was a love of a guitar. Come the early 80s we started getting truly good instruments, such as the westones, and things got (and stayed different). There is a reason there aren't many kays around, they weren't worth keeping.