Q: lost all playlist on upgrade to 12.2.1.16. any hope of getting them back and how?

Hey jeffkat,

I know that it is not a good time if you are missing your playlists after an update to iTunes. Let's see if we can get those playlists back. 

There are two options on getting your playlist back. The first option will have you look in the Previous iTunes Library folder in your iTunes Music folder. What you will want to do is replace the current iTunes library with the one from the back up to have everything show up right before the update. Take a look at the article below to walk you through each step to get those playlists back.

If you don't see your content after updating iTunes
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203225

The other alternative is importing any playlist data from an iTunes .xml file. The second article will walk you through those steps to assist with getting your playlists back. It will be a little different from the first option, but the results will be the same. 

iTunes: How to re-create your iTunes library and playlists
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201561

Take it easy