Drag-kinging it up, flirting with the camera while wearing nothing but a pleather trench coat, making out with HIV-positive men and lip-synching in the nude behind a strategically built chair — no wonder the world once proclaimed Mitsou to be Quebec’s Madonna.

Mitsou’s 1988 video for “Bye Bye Mon Cowboy” is like an early-day “Erotica,” for Christ’s sake.

Now a mother of two, a wife and a very savvy businesswoman, Mitsou Gélinas is coming out of music retirement as a grown-up diva.

“Who am I to judge what’s being made now? It’s different times for me,” she says of music videos today. “When I did that, I was 17 to 27, did not have kids, was not married and wanted to prove to myself, and to others, my power of attraction. It was my own little trip.

“I couldn’t think about young kids back then because I was doing my art! You have to do it for yourself and people your age, and you’re not thinking about if it’s cool for a five-year-old. I’m thinking, ‘Five-year-olds, go away!’ And that’s probably what Rihanna and Kesha are thinking. Now, as a mom, I feel differently.”

Not only is the (still hot) Franco-fox a busy mother, she hosts Montreal’s biggest morning-radio show and a hit French TV program, and she is the spokesperson for Lise Watier makeup. She also runs her own production company, Dazmo, and does music soundtracks for TV, film and commercials.

She isn’t making money off her past hits, though, since her old record company sold the rights to her music long ago. But with her return, she’s playing a whole new game.

Her new single, “On vole,” was recorded with Montreal band Creature, and the musically reborn singer will be releasing her new material whenever she wants, however she wants.

“It’s not an album,” she explains excitedly. “I’m going to release stuff every three to four months as radio singles. It’s very freeing, I must say.

“We’re working on getting different artists in the studio. I saw James Di Salvio from Bran Van 3000 the other day. And Misteur Valaire. I’m going to gather old friends and new friends. J’adore Chromeo, aussi.”

Two years ago, after starting mitsou.com, a very interactive website where the singer shares her tastes in music, entertainment and lifestyle, she couldn’t help but think, “Why am I sharing other people’s music when I can share my own just for fun? So I created a music space for myself on my website.”

With music labels crumbling and artists like Robyn rewriting record industry rules, Mitsou definitely has the right idea. Have a listen to “On vole,” which translates to “we fly.” It is the perfect song to launch this Quebec icon into new, exciting and sexy orbits.

A GAY GUIDE TO MITSOU

In case you need to dust off your Mitsou knowledge like your El Mundo cassette tape, here are some fun facts to get you caught up.

• The fleshy and steamy video for 1991’s “Dis-moi, dis-moi” was banned only a few months after “Justify My Love” was yanked off MuchMusic airwaves for its crazy nude shower scenes.

• On Mitsou’s first English-language album, in 1993, she worked with RuPaul. They recorded “Everybody Say Love” together in the studio — Mitsou in her “best makeup and clothes, RuPaul in jeans and a baseball cap.”

• She has been involved in AIDS awareness education from the very beginning of her career. This was highlighted when she released the 1994 single “Comme j’ai toujours envie d’aimer.” The video featured the singer caressing HIV-positive men and was released around the same time Mitsou was tested for HIV live on Quebec TV, to encourage awareness.

• The woman is also an actress. Her best-known work was in Denys Arcand’s Oscar-winning Barbarian Invasions (Les Invasions barbares).

• Mitsou’s sister is a DJ in Montreal. She’s known as DJ Abeille.

• When I asked Mitsou about her gay following, she said that her gays are very loyal and she feels a “deep connection to them.”

Follow Mitsou on Twitter @mistougelinas.

tunes@fabmagazine.com