Whether or not trying to take the one off is arguable in the front of the second 70s version or the 80s version, since the point in the front game is to either clear a column or keep or make a column clearable. If you roll a 9 and the 1's in a column with a 4 and a 2, for example, yeah, go 8 and 1--a 6 can still clear the column. But if the 1's with a, say, 9 and 4, take off the 9 and leave the column set up for a 5 to clear it. Of course, if you rolled boxcars, take off 4, 2, 1 and 5 and you have the first column example cleared.
And in the Big Numbers, it's better to take off one number at a time, if you can, so you can leave more numbers up and more possible rolls--and if you roll an 11 or 12, take off 8 and 3 or 9 and 2 or 9 and 3, rather than a combination with the 1. Yeah, the 1 could stall you, but wouldn't you like to see 6 and 1 as the last two numbers on the board?