In 1982, Hokkaido-based Inoue's then-backing band called Anzen Chitai made debut, and he contributed lyrics for their materials composed by a group's frontman Koji Tamaki. One of them, "Wine　Red no Kokoro" was released as a single in 1983 and led the group to fame. It reached the number-one on the chart in a following year and became a massive hit, selling more than a 600,000 copies. The song won the 26th Japan Record Award for "Gold Prize", and has been well known as a signature song for the group. Inoue also wrote the lyrics for some of the group's subsequent releases, including a song "Koi no Yokan" that became the second top-ten hit for the band. Also in 1984, Inoue contributed another number-one hit "Kazari ja nai no yo Namida wa" for a pop idol Akina Nakamori. In addition, Inoue himself scored the top-ten hit "Isso Serenade" in a same year, four his compositions dominated the Japanese singles chart at the same week in December 1984.