I got my licence in '85 and it was a topic of conversation at the time. It was either about to be or had just been removed.
As for statistics? I doubt they really exist (if they do from that period they will not be interweb net accessible anyhow).
There were a few incidents about that time mainly military in Bulldogs and at least one civil Chipmunk which I believe the people did not get out of. There were also a number of C150 stall / spin incidents (subject to a thread last year on the numbers?). That lead to the switch to 'awareness' rather than 'proper' spins.
Most of the younger instructors were keen on it being removed, the old g*ts not so happy - nothing much changes!