Thank you both for the suggestions, I truly appreciate it! I've tried both options, and while neither is really having the effect I'm looking for, I am grateful for the advice and gave them both an honest try
If I find what I thought I found before again, I'll certainly post it. I know it's there somewhere. For example, after playing with SU2U for a couple days and then reverting back to the original lock system (SU2U wasn't my cup of tea like S2P), Google Maps would get locked. Re-installing Google Maps made it "lock proof" again, so I'm fairly certain it's not an API they're calling in the app and some type of setting somewhere. Oh well
For now, I'm pretty happy with the skinned WMP. My .asx playlist is FAR too large for WMP to digest (crashes trying), but taking the couple extra 'clicks' to select My Music / All Music / Play does make it a very nice dedicated player facsimile compared to the HTC Music app for me. Not the end of the world.
Just wanted to make sure to follow up and let you know that I did appreciate the responses!