Otis Williams Recalls Most Important 'Grooming' Rule Temptations Learned at Motown: 'Keep Your Teeth Clean' (Exclusive)

The sole surviving founding member of the iconic group tells PEOPLE about the label's artist development department

Otis Williams is looking back at his early years at Motown, and how he and The Temptations learned to "Get Ready" for live appearances.

Speaking with PEOPLE about the 60th anniversary of their 1964 debut album Meet the Temptations, the 82-year-old sole surviving founding member of the group remembers one rule that stuck with him from his time learning under Motown's artist development department.

"We had to go to school about how to stay groomed, take care of yourself. And they taught us different songs, stepping out of character," Williams recalls. "... We would have to be at Motown artist development at 11:00 in the morning and would not leave until 5:00 or 6:00 in the evening. And it was a long grooming process because they saw the talent in us, but they just needed to spit shine us so we'd really be as we should be."

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According to the Detroit Historical Society, the legendary label's "Artist Personal Development Department" launched in 1964 with the goal of teaching artists how "to walk, talk, think and act like royalty," often under the tutelage of Maxine Powell.

"They would instill certain things in us. Ms. Evans would sit and tell us about always be conscientious of the way we look," Williams says. "And she said something I still adhere to today, and she said, 'Now take care of your health. And you're young but you're not going to stay young, so take care of your health. And always make sure your teeth are clean.'"

As Williams was told: "One of the first places people look at is your mouth."

"I'm still very conscious of that," he says. "In fact, I'm going to see my dentist [soon]. But they would instill a lot of the wonderful things in us.... The way we always felt that we should make our presentation was always looking classy."

Related: The Temptations' Debut Turns 60: Otis Williams on Journey from 'No Hit Wonder' to Motown Legend (Exclusive)

Elsewhere during his latest interview, Williams described how the Beatles inspired the group on the road to their first LP — which he says was named after the British band's own debut Meet the Beatles.

The Beatles eventually even showed The Temptations some love in 1965, after the Motown greats earned their first No. 1 single with "My Girl," by writing them a congratulatory telegram.

"I have it at my house. It says, 'Congratulations for ‘My Girl’ being No. 1.' We were at the Apollo Theater, see we recorded "My Girl" the summer of '64. Motown released it near the end of December of '64, and it started running up the charts. So by February we were at the Apollo in '65 and I got a telegram from The Beatles, Berry Gordy, The Supremes, and Jules Podell, the guy that ran the Copacabana," Williams says. "And I have those four telegrams still hanging up in my home today."

"It was a thrill that we had yet to overcome because we had been recording quite a [bit]... So to start having hits in the year of '64 all the way until now, I can't even find the right words to say, to put it in a real perspective because we had tried for so long to become successful," he adds. "Here we are talking about 60 years later."

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