It’s the kind of smooth soul groove you can imagine hearing on California FM radio in the late 70s. Bright strings dance over sparkling Fender Rhodes keyboards while an oily talking-bass accompanies a deep, sensuous female voice that would “Like to get to know you / In a special kind of womanly way.”The song is Linda Tillery’s Womanly Way.
Originally released in 1977, it’s one of the standout tracks on the second volume of DJ Supermarket’s The Ladies of Too Slow to Disco, the female-pop-pioneers series that captures the mood of freedom and activism that existed in certain women’s music in the 70s and 80s.
It also shines a light on the remarkable story of Olivia Records, a California-based, lesbian-feminist record label launched in 1973,.