There are a few things that can cause a harsh 1-2 upshift......I will do my best to remember what they are.
Like the original post, a "slightly" defective ignition switch can cause this. If it is "clocked" slightly off, the feed to circuit 1020 (feeds all voltage to the trans) will be late in feeding the Pressure Control Solenoid (PCS). The PCS will not get it's marbles back until the next key cycle (it's a PWM solenoid). This can run from extremely intermittent to every key cycle, depending on the switch. It can also set a boatload of DTC's too. This is a P/I in the GM system and goes back to 1996 if I remember correctly.
Remote starters can cause this too in the same way that an ignition switch can.....
Debris in the valve body will not normally cause a harsh upshift, rather a slip in the shift. Most normally due to debris in the A solenoid not allowing bleed off to occur quickly enough. However, if for some reason there was debris on the back side of the PCS valve, I suppose it could.....it just isn't that practical due to the flow of the fluid there.
A bunged up 2/4 band servo can cause lack of accumulator effect leading to a harsh 2nd upshift....
Obviously, a defective PCS solenoid can cause this and normally the only shift that is felt as "harsh" is the 2nd upshift as that is where there is the most torque multiplication.
Regardless of the other facts, the overwhelming majority of the problems are with the key switch. A lot of times there will be a repair to the trans then the key switch takes awhile to re-emerge......I can't explain why though.