During and prior to the boom, the Europeans appear to have been great believers in the functional bicycle. That is, so long as the bicycle performed properly, they weren't concerned about the cometics. Horrendous file marks, brazing splatter, paint runs, bubbled and wrinkled decals were all, more or less, par for the course, especially on entry level models. The degree of attention to cosmetic finish was proportional to the price of the bicycle. While there was an increase in the magnitude of cometic defects associated with the excessive demand caused by the boom, these issues had existed even prior to the boom, indicating a basic ambivalence towards cosmetics. It was a time when it was not unusual for the knowledgeable customer to walk down an aisle of identical bicycles, closely scrutinizing each one, to pick out the one with the least defects.

All that changed with the arrival of the Japanese. They had a remarkably high and consistent level of finish. Every bicycle, regardless of the level, was finished like a top end model. Many customers couldn't put their finger on why, but they just knew the Japanese bicycles looked better and reasoned that if they looked better, they probably performed better too. It was an approach that allowed the Japanese to dominate the entry level market in short order. More importantly, it opened the eyes of many European manufacturers and forced them to re-evealute their quality control standards.

However, with some manufacturers, the problems persisted well into the early 1980s. This was particualrly noticeable on the high end Italian models from smaller companies. It was totally unacceptable to the American Joe that his mega dollar Italian racer had flaking decals and bubbling paint while a Japanese entry level model did not. This resulted in some American distributors ordering unfinished frames and having the finishing and assembly operations performed stateside.

The OP is suffering from a case of 20/20 Japanese influenced hindsight. He's seen what the Japanese were capable of offering during the era and is now horrified to see what Raleigh was producing.