Bob.
Absolutely keep the intro instruments & then pull back at the start of the vocal.
I would try a harmony on the chorus for sure... maybe an airy female voice, (not to be confused with an airhead female voice)
I totally agree on the fun of having forum buddies do a mix of your song. Might be possible if your email server allowed a 200 to 300MB download of a .seq file... For me it wouldn't so much be the download, as it would be the upload since my upload speed is like 37KB's.

I can sympathize with your late nights too... I was up till 4:00am last night working on guitar parts & a new song idea, and that was after rehearsing with my band for 3 hrs earlier in the evening.
But your right, it is just too much fun!

Greg