I'm positive that the tooth count was too low that was compounded by making a shallow cut. But being a teen I used what blades were there. In fact the blades he had were either fine steel toothed plywood blades and the really coarse tooth carbide ripping blades.
RAS serve a purpose. It seamed like in the 70s they became, as Ted said, a Swiss army knife. Sears managed to get the price down to a point where homeowners and hobbyists could afford one. When my father bought his he had a small cast iron table saw that had to sit on a stand so the motor could hang down(he made one out of 2x4s and plywood). The weight of the motor kept the belt tight. If I had to guess the top was 12" x 18" at most. He also had an all aluminum Skill circular saw. So having a lot more real estate to work with and no real experience it made for the go to tool for ripping boards and plywood. He even had an adapter for the opposite end of the motor for router bits and a molding cutter blade set that came with multiple shape cutters. It was a different time back then. He had two electric drills, a 3/8" B&D (the one with the really short cord) and a huge monster 3/4" all aluminum B&D (that I have hanging up on the wall of my shop). The only other woodworking tool he had was an all aluminum jigsaw.