For more than 40 years, Otis Williams has been the main man in the Temptations.

He has shared the stage with at least 21 other members of the seminal Motown vocal group; witnessed the transformation of the recording industry into a multibillion-dollar enterprise, and presided over one of the most productive hit-making machines in pop music history.

And at 59, he's not about to stop.

“Everybody that comes into this world has a role to play while they're here,” the lone original member of the vocal group said in a telephone interview. “God put me here to sing. Little did I know that I also would be here to keep the Temptations together.”

The band will be in Toledo tonight to perform at 8 in the Stranahan Theater, accompanied by the Toledo Symphony Brass.

The original lineup that produced such monumental pop hits as “My Girl,” “Ain't Too Proud to Beg,” “Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me),” and “(I Know) I'm Losing You” in the 1960s and early 1970s, is long defunct.

Paul Williams, David Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks, and Melvin Franklin have all died, but Otis Williams decided decades ago that the band would continue despite personnel changes.

“You just have to try and understand that in life some things are out of your control,” he said. “People will just be people and the one thing that is constant in life is change.”

The Temptations were formed by Otis Williams in 1961 and by the mid-1960s the band began a tremendous run that produced 37 top 10 hits. The five-man band also defined a series of vocal group dance moves that were smooth, soulful, slick, and widely imitated.

Lest it seem like the Temptations have evolved into a glorified oldies' act, they haven't. The band won a Grammy in 2000 for “Ear Resistable,” a ballad-heavy release that also received critical praise.

“We're proud of not being typecast as an oldies act because even though we started in 1961, we won a Grammy last year,” Williams said.

The key is in the songs, and good ones will always be popular, he said.

“Then we make sure we stay in character - soaring tenor, and heavy bass with a gospel aspect to the harmonies,” he said in describing the band's sound.

It also is important to adapt to new technology and musical genres without pandering to a younger audience.

The formula continues to work with the latest lineup, which comprises Williams, tenor; Ron Tyson, tenor; Terry Weeks, tenor and baritone; Barrington “Bo” Henderson, baritone; and Harry McGilberry, Jr., bass.

The band, whose members range in age from 37 to 59, tours at a relatively leisurely pace, taking a break when the singers' voices need a rest.

The Temptations also are re- cording a new disc, titled “Awesome.” Williams said the changes in studio technology - now the studio looks like a “command module” - are among the most striking changes from the band's halcyon days.

Back in the early years, the band recorded its vocals in a bathroom to get the proper sounds.

“We had to wait for the toilet to stop flushing so we could use the bathroom as an echo chamber,” he said.

Williams also bemoaned changes in the industry, saying he misses the days when acts like the Temptations, Four Tops, and the Supremes toured together.

“It was more fun-loving, a different kind camaraderie,” he said. “Now there's a different kind of fervor, but it's all cut and dried. It's like you're a computer readout and if you don't have the sales, you're gone.”

So far, after more than 50 albums, that hasn't been a problem for the Temptations. Williams said it is “almost like a blessed curse” that the band has so much material to choose from for its 65 to 70-minute shows.

Something always gets left out, except, of course, “My Girl.”

“When you look down into the audience and it starts - boom-boom-boom, boom-boom-boom,” he said, sounding out the song's instantly recognizable bass line, “it is so well received 35 or 40 years later and you see it on people's faces of all ages. It's almost like it's a brand new song.”

Williams said he may dabble in producing and working with artists for record labels, but the Temptations will always be his passion.

He said, “This is my role and I shoulder it proudly.”

The Temptations, accompanied by the Toledo Symphony Brass, perform at 8 tonight in the Stranahan Theater. Tickets, $29.50 and $24.50, are available through TicketMas- ter outlets or at the Stranahan Theater box office, 381-8851.

First Published July 20, 2001, 1:51 p.m.