On every release of "Party Line", the song is said to be written by Ray Davies, the main songwriter of the Kinks.

However, in his critically acclaimed autobiography Kink, Dave Davies (who also sang "Party Line") claimed that he had written the song rather than Ray.

"[5] However, Rob Jovanovic, author of God Save The Kinks: A Biography, wrote that "Party Line" was co-written between both Davies brothers.

The opening of the track (a man answering a telephone) is a remnant from the early stages of the Face to Face album, where the songs were to be linked by sound effects (other songs, such as "Holiday in Waikiki" and "Rainy Day in June", also have these sound effects).

The man answering the phone in the sound effect is Grenville Collins, one of the band's managers at the time.