Having upper back pain - any tell tale signs that it is arthritis versus normal aches and pains?

None. Why? Arthritis: is just a catch-all term, a contraction of Arthro (joint) + itis (inflammation of), yet commonly promoted as a diagnosis even when not involving a joint. The term is just repeating back to the person complaining of pain their stated complaint using a different term, as if useful, though some seem to perceive this as useful. Normal just means average/common, neither diagnostic or predictive.