I realized one of the many things that makes the debut of The Velvet Underground sound timeless and modern is the affectless singing from both Reed and Nico, its a style that didn’t really exist before and was widely copied after. The only previous example I can think of is Johnny Cash but even he showed some emotion in his vocals.
Anyone know of more examples of someone singing like they were reading a medical textbook?
I hear a definite influence of Bob Dylan on Lou Reed’s singing style. I wouldn’t call it affectless, but rather understated.
It’s Alright, Ma (1965)
On the other side of the Atlantic, Serge Gainsbourg also developed a very understated style, that was originally influenced by jazz crooners but by the mid-60s, it was close to Reed’s.
New York USA (1964)
The Initials BB (1968)
Numb by U2, featuring Edge on vocals. Purposefully sung flat as you describe.
There was Peter Sellers’ version of A Hard Day’s Night but that was done for laughs.
Sade uses this technique in the song No Ordinary Love and others.
Anything by The Flying Lizards; affectless singing, affectless everything, really.
The OP did mention that the style was widely copied after The Velvet Underground - my impression was that they were looking for examples that came before.
Most songs by Cake?
I’m interested in both really, I’m wondering if they did originate it. I understand there is some backlash against TVU because they are lauded by everyone but their debut really was some innovative shit.
Oh and thank you above for reminding me of The Flying Lizards, their cover of Money(What I Want) is amazing. The affectless and disinterested woman with an upper class accent dismissing love and demanding money really shows how messed up the original lyrics were.
I’m not a big Leonard Cohen fan, so I am not sure if he was pre VU but he definitely fits the bill.
If I’m understanding the “affectless vocals” concept correctly, I’m going to suggest that Chega de saudade João Gilberto may be among the first trend-setting recordings of the Bossa Nova movement and his wife may have taken affectless to the extreme with Astrud Gilberto and Stan Getz: THE GIRL FROM IPANEMA - 1964
In any case, that’s close to my earliest exposure to the “affectless” style.
The late, great Virginia O’Brien clearly was a pioneer.
Thank you! I knew someone who knew her name would show up eventually. “That woman, yanno, who had cameos in some '30s musicals…” didn’t seem specific enough. 
That wasn’t done affectlessly so much as it was meant to be “A Hard Day’s Night” as if done like a Shakespearean monologue.
Sellers, incidentally, is impersonating Olivier’s performance as Richard III.
Nico’s singing always reminded me of Marlene Dietrich with harder drugs, and not just because they both had strong German accents when singing in English. Dietrich was singing in movies as early as 1930 and was successful as both a singer and an actress. Here she is doing “The Laziest Girl in Town” in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1950 movie Stage Fright: The Laziest Gal In town - YouTube
I was also going to suggest Leonard Cohen, although I just checked the dates and his first album was released the same year as (and several months later than) The Velvet Underground and Nico. So there was enough time for Cohen to be influenced by Reed/Nico’s singing style, although I don’t know whether there’s any evidence that he actually was.
Suzanne Vega sounds that way to me.
Mike Love!
If you listen close, a lot of songs, Cali Girls for example, he deadpans his vocals with barely a melodic inflection.
The Tommy Dorsey tune “Marie” has the backup singers adding an unenthusiastic “tra la la la la” that always cracks me up – see around 1:08 in this clip.
Anything by Tom Tom Club, although it’s more like talk-singing than straight singing.
Hooverphonic (with vocalist Liesje Sadonius) was an awesome band. They were slightly less awesome after she left.
Romeo Void - Never Say Never
The Waitresses - I Know What Boys Like
And the king of affectless vocals: (the incomparable) Gary Numan
Metal
Films
M.E.
Observer
Slowcar To China
ETA: Gary Numan’s version of On Broadway