Backgrounder gives you complete control over native backgrounding. It can specify exactly which apps you want to use in the background. It also puts a status bar icon when that app is being backgrounded natively or a badge on the icon if you like.
CleanStatus gives control over the status bar. I'm not sure what firmware you are on and if it's compatible but give it a shot. It's the best one I found. I just hide the carrier name with sbsettings though.
